The Chilean Justice orders to reopen the investigation into the death of Neruda. "Neruda did not die of cancer, a large amount of botulinum clostridium was found: the death certificate is false," the court said.
The author of "Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair" died on September 23, 1973 at the Santa María Clinic in Santiago, one day before going into exile in Mexico. The poisoning thesis was raised publicly for the first time by the poet's driver and personal secretary, Manuel Araya, who died in June of last year.