During the last years, the cause of death of Pablo Neruda it was a mystery. Although it was originally believed that he had prostate cancer, the family began to suspect that the poet was poisoned during the pinochet dictatorship. Along these lines, his remains were exhumed and a recent survey “found a large number” of Clostridium botulinuma bacterium that can be deadly.
A panel made up of specialists from Canada, Denmark and Chile worked on the analysis of the expertise derived from the investigation that began in 2012 into the true cause of Neruda’s death. In the report that he presented this Wednesday before Judge Paola Plaza, they detailed that we found traces of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum in the remains of the poet.
Through a new expertise, Neruda’s family affirms that the poet was poisoned and points to “state agents”
“Although he had a prostate disease, bone tests found a large amount of botulinum Clostridium that was administered orally or injected and may be the cause of homicidal death. The function certificate is false“commented a The world Rodolfo Reyes, lawyer and nephew of the poet.
Causes of botulism, the disease of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum
Clostridium botulinum It is a type of bacteria that produces a toxin responsible for food poisoning. It is usually found in nature in soil, stagnant water, and faulty food, although it is also found in the intestinal tracts of mammals, crabs, and bivalve molluscs.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Botulinum toxin is one of the deadliest substances known. This toxin is considered extremely dangerous because it cannot be smelled or detected through taste (in the case of food), but a small amount of it can be fatal, especially if it occurs in babies under 12 months old.
This neurotoxin causes a food poisoning called botulism. Although it is a rare disease today, it is a serious condition that can cause death and requires medical assistance. The disease can be fatal in 5 to 10% of cases. Mortality increases if an early diagnosis is not made and the antitoxin is not administered quickly.
Botulism can be caused by direct intake of botulinum toxin through food or wateror by ingesting the bacteria Clostridium botulinum and the subsequent formation of the neurotoxin within the organism.
Because the bacterium thrives in anaerobic and low-acid conditions, it can be found in foods such as vegetables, some fruits, milk, all kinds of meat, fish and shellfishespecially if they are improperly packaged or preserved.
As in other bacteria, the Clostridium botulinum also can enter the body through wounds or bleeding cutsproducing the neurotoxin inside and causing botulism.
symptoms of botulism
The neurotoxins produced by this bacterium attack the nervous system, producing paralysis and other types of complications derived from nerve involvement. In general, the symptoms of foodborne botulism appear between 12 and 36 hours after ingestion of the contaminated food, with a minimum period of four hours and a maximum of eight days. But the time may vary depending on the amount of toxin ingested.
Neruda’s family assures that the poet was poisoned
The initial symptoms They include severe fatigue, weakness, and dizziness, usually followed by blurred vision, mouth sores, and difficulty swallowing and speaking. Vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and abdominal inflammation may also occur.
In addition, the disease can lead to weakness in the neck and arms, and later affect the respiratory muscles and muscles of the lower body. There are no febrile symptoms or loss of consciousness. The most dangerous symptom is difficulty breathingwhich is the leading cause of death from botulism.
The comings and goings on the cause of death of Neruda
According to the official version, the Nobel Prize for Literature died in a clinic in Santiago on September 23, 1973, as a result of the prostate cancer that he suffered do The death occurred 12 days after the military coup that overthrew the government of Salvador Allende and imposed a dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet. At that time, the author was 69 years old and a recognized communist militant.
However, in 2011, almost 40 years after his death, the former driver of nerudaManuel Araya, told the press that the poet could have been poisoned by the Pinochet dictatorship. For this reason, the following year a judicial investigation began into the cause of his death.
In 2013, after the exhumation of Neruda’s remains, a team of Chilean and foreign experts reaffirmed that the poet died of prostate cancer. But in 2015, studies carried out in Chile and abroad revealed the presence of a “golden staphylococcus”, a highly infectious bacterium that can be lethal.
In October 2017, a group of 16 Chilean and foreign experts contribution that the poet did not die of cancer although he was unable to determine the exact cause of his death. Since January 24, 2023, a panel made up of specialists from Canada, Denmark and Chile worked on the analysis of the derived expertise. Because traces of Botulinum clostridium in the skeletal remains another investigation was started on the bacterium.
The judicial process based on the new expertise
The panel of scientific experts investigating a possible poisoning of the poet delivered its report to Chilean judge Paola Plaza, who will study it in reserve while it continues in the “investigation phase”. At a press conference, he clarified that “the court was not aware of the content of these reports until today.”
In addition, he disassociated himself from everything reported to the press on the thesis that the poet did not die of cancer but from the injection of the botulism bacterium. “I can’t take care of what circulates in the press that any of the parties involved had prior knowledge,” said Plaza, who is leading the investigation that began more than a decade ago.
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The expert report is not binding and Judge Plaza must decide the steps to follow once this stage is completed within a period that she refused to define. In this sense, the magistrate emphasized that “now comes a phase of review, study, consideration and assessment so that the court issues the resolutions that correspond by law.”
The theories of the family and relatives of Neruda
Reyes affirmed this week that the results delivered by the Canadian and Danish laboratories, to which he had access, are necessary to confirm that Neruda was poisoned. Of course This bacterium is a biological weapon that was injected into Pablo Nerudaand after a few hours he died,” he said in dialogue with AFP.
However, Bernardo Reyes, the author’s great-nephew, dismissed this case from the side of the family, which is not a plaintiff and does not believe in the thesis of Neruda’s murder. In addition, he would miss that his relatives involved in the cause are “.upstart spokesmen, who do not even represent the family“.
“The scientific conclusion, cannot determine its association to a homicidal act. Not to mention that by 1973 there was still no development in the country, during the dictatorship, in murders using chemical techniques,” he told AFP.
For their part, the representatives of the Communist Party (PC) and the poet’s family suspended a public statement that they had planned after the presentation of the report. For now, decide to opt for prudence pending a decision from the judge once read the report delivered under summary secrecy.
“At the moment we only have well-founded assumptions according to the information that has been given to us, but there is nothing conclusive. So this has to be investigated,” said Julia Urquieta, lawyer for the PC in the case of Pablo Neruda.
For its part, the Neruda Foundation, which manages the museum-houses and the memorabilia of the diplomatic poet, he prefers to wait for the judge to eventually deliver the verdicthighlights Kemy Oyarzún, president of the foundation.
MB / DE
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