Chronicle Of A Death Much Mourned: Gabriel García Márquez Honored In Mexico, Colombia

Mexico Mourns Passing Of Gabriel García Márquez

On Monday, the presidents of Mexico and Colombia and thousands of mourners paid their respects to the Colombian-born novelist, winner of the Nobel Prize, at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

Associated Press – With two heads of state and thousands of tearful admirers, Mexico bid farewell on Monday to Gabriel García Márquez. The ashes of the author, who died Thursday at age 87, were received at Mexico City's majestic Palace of Fine Arts to several minutes of thunderous applause after being placed on a black pedestal by his widow.

Long into the night, the line of mourners stretched for nearly a mile, waiting their turn to file in and bid farewell to the Colombian Nobel laureate considered one of the greatest Spanish-language authors of all time.

García Márquez, who died Thursday at age 87, was eulogized by the presidents of both Mexico and Colombia, two countries linked by the writer through his birth, life, heritage and career. Though he was born in Colombia, García Márquez lived in Mexico for decades and wrote some of his best-known works here, including "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

"We come as admirers and friends of Gabo from all corners of the planet," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, using the nickname by which the writer was known throughout Latin America. "He will live on in his books and writings. But more than anything he will live forever in the hopes of humanity."

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said the death was "a great loss not only for literature but for humanity. Various generations ... found answers to the questions of life in his stories and tales."

At the end, attendees tossed up a flurry of yellow paper butterflies, one of García Márquez's most famous literary images from "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in his favorite color.

Thousands passed by the simple urn holding his ashes during a three-hour tribute open to the public Monday afternoon. When the procession was closed for the ceremony, a crowd remained outside demanding to pay respects to their beloved Gabo. After the eulogies, the building was reopened and the procession resumed.

"Gabo was a watershed in my life," said Nelly Hernández, a 52-year-old teacher holding a pair of yellow paper butterflies. "He taught me to relish life through literature."

Before the formal ceremony, García Márquez's ashes were placed on a black pedestal by his widow, Mercedes Barcha, and his two sons, Gonzalo and Rodrigo. Dignitaries, friends and artists took turns as honor guards.

A quartet played some of García Márquez's favorite classical composers, including Hungary's Bela Bartok and Italy's Giovanni Bottesini. A musical trio passed in front of the urn to play upbeat, accordion-laced "vallenato," a musical form native to the Caribbean coast of Colombia where García Márquez grew up.

He once said "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was a vallenato of 400 pages.

"This is my chance to accompany García Márquez," said Lorena Moreno, 40, originally from Barranquilla, Colombia, where the author spent part of his early life. A resident of Mexico for seven years, she said that whenever she is homesick for her country, she rereads García Márquez's work.

The writer's birthplace in Colombia, Aracataca, held a symbolic funeral on Monday.

About 3,000 people joined in a procession that started at his childhood home, now a museum dedicated to his life and work, and went to the church in the center of town, then to the cemetery and back to the museum. They carried hundreds of yellow flowers and yellow paper butterflies.

García Márquez's family has not announced what will do with his ashes. Colombia has said it would like at least some of them to go to his homeland.

"Aracataca gave so much to Gabito ... that we want some of his ashes to be here," said Jorge Polo Camargo, head of protocol in the town.

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