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Chilean poet
Pablo Neruda
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Spanish researchers investigating the early '70s death
of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda to determine if he was poisoned, have found no
conclusive evidence of foul play, according to an initial report handed to the
investigating judge.
The Chilean government
reopened the investigation into his death in January, with new tests designed
to look for protein damage caused by chemical agents, suggesting poisoning.
Forensic experts at the
Universidad de Murcia found three types of protein in the remains of Neruda, a
Nobel laureate, two of which could be explained by advanced prostate cancer,
said the report seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The source of the third
protein was not immediately clear, but could be due to natural causes such as
infection, or posthumous manipulation of the remains, the report said.
An expert panel will
now examine the evidence, while a further genomic analysis is still pending.
Neruda, famed for his
passionate love poems and staunch communist views, is presumed to have died of
cancer days after a coup in 1973 that ushered in the brutal dictatorship of
Augusto Pinochet.
However, the poet's
chauffeur has claimed that Pinochet's agents took advantage of Neruda's illness
to inject poison into his stomach as he lay in hospital.
Initial tests on his
exhumed body in 2013 found no evidence of the remains of poison.
Neruda's family and
supporters have been divided over whether the case should be closed and his
remains returned to his grave near his coastal home of Isla Negra, or whether
researchers should continue carrying out tests.
"The data analysis
requires a dose of caution to avoid jumping to conclusions in the absence of
additional information which we currently lack," it said.
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