Pablo Neruda Reburied After Tests Look for Evidence of Assassination

The body of Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was reburied Tuesday after an investigation into the cause of his 1973 death.

Neruda died 12 days after a military coup, led by General Augusto Pinochet, seized power in Chile, CCTV reported. His death was said to be a result of cancer, but suspicions that he was poisoned have persisted.

His body was exhumed in 2013, and results of the investigation are expected next month.

Last year, investigators said they found an unexplained bacterial infection in his body, BBC News reported. Some, including his driver Manuel Araya, said Neruda was assassinated because he was a vocal opponent of Pinochet with plans to lead the opposition to his regime.

The poet complained of feeling ill after getting an injection at a Santiago clinic. He died hours after the injection, AFP reported.

Eduardo Contreras, a lawyer who worked to get Neruda’s remains examined, said the investigation may not provide the desired closure to the mystery.

"Even though all the evidence points to a crime, it will be technically very difficult to prove," he told AFP.

Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 and is credited with helping 2,000 Spanish refugees escape the Spanish civil war.

A leftist diplomat and close friend of socialist President Santiago Allende, Neruda was best known for romantic verses, especially the collection "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair."

He was buried overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the coastal town of Isla Negra, about 70 miles north west of Santiago.

"Returning him to Isla Negra is allowing him to look at the sea again, and looking at the sea is not dying - it's coming to life, and that's everything for a poet," said Raul Bulnes of the Neruda Foundation, according to the Times of Malta.

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