Experts found Chilean poet Neruda was poisoned, nephew says

Forensic experts have determined that Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was poisoned, Rodolfo Reyes, the Nobel Prize winner’s nephew, said on Feb 13. Photo: AP

Forensic experts have determined that Chilean poet Pablo Neruda died of poisoning nearly 50 years ago, a family member of the Nobel Prize winner said recently.

The revelation by Rodolfo Reyes, a Neruda nephew, is the latest turn in one of the great debates of post-coup Chile. The long-stated official position has been that Neruda died of complications from prostate cancer, but the poet's driver argued for decades that he was poisoned.