Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan writer and Nobel Prize winner in Literature in 1967, died in Spain from cancer in 1974 and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France. Decades later, his remains will be repatriated to Guatemala, as announced by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo.
“Miguel Ángel Asturias returns (…) we have announced the repatriation of his remains to our country. It will be a great honor for this Government to receive you. He will finally be able to rest the immense night with the men and women of corn,” Arévalo wrote on social networks. The Government celebrated the 50th anniversary of the death of Asturias on Sunday afternoon at the National Palace of Culture with an event in which relatives of the Nobel Prize winner participated.
“The last two governments have offered me to bring his remains, but I have flatly refused, because those governments are part of the corrupt pact with which my father would not have agreed,” said Miguel Ángel Asturias Amado, the writer’s son, during the event held in Guatemala City.
“After decades of bad governments that plunged the country into deep misery, we now have a Government that seeks the unity of all Guatemalans,” he added. For this reason, the family has now decided to return the writer’s remains to his native country since this, as they said, was always his wish.
Asturias, in addition to being a writer, was a journalist, poet, politician and served as a diplomat during the Government of former President Juan José Arévalo, father of the current president. His literary works were considered magical realism and among the most famous are Mr. President, Mulata de Tal, Corn Men and Legends of Guatemala.
The Arévalo Administration also issued an agreement with the objective of celebrating the legacy of Asturias, since this year two important dates are commemorated: June 9, the 50th anniversary of his death; and October 19, the 125th anniversary of his birth.
For the coming months, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Central American country will be in charge of carrying out a series of artistic and cultural activities throughout the country to honor the Nobel Prize winner.
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