Neruda, the Mystery of his Death

On September 23rd 1973 Pablo Neruda the Nobel prize winner for Literature died in the Santa María Hospital just 12 days after the coup d’état. His death represents the loss of one the most important political and cultural figures in Chilean history. This documentary series delves into the judicial investigation that has been underway in Chile since 2011 to determine the true cause of Pablo Neruda’s death. The poet’s final days in September 1973 are reconstructed through testimonies and accounts from surviving closest friends, relatives and the professionals in charge of his care while he was hospitalized. Moreover, unknown details are revealed. Over two years of research, with exclusive access to the judicial process and scientific expertise carried out by world-renowned laboratories, the series gives an account of one of the most important international forensic investigations involved in judicial proceedings today. This series was broadcast in the week when the panel of scientists delivered the final results from a two-year research paper that established the conclusion: Cancer did not kill Pablo Neruda. A week later the Chilean Court declared that former President Frei had been murdered in 1982 in the same hospital where Neruda had died, on the same floor and with the same medical team.