World reacts to Garcia Marquez’s death
Nobel-winning author is paid tribute by world leaders and fans of his literary work.
| Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos. |
“A thousand years of loneliness and sadness for the death of the greatest Colombian of all time.”
| US President Barack Obama |
“With the passing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the world has lost one of its greatest visionary writers – and one of my favourites from the time I was young … I offer my thoughts to his family and friends, whom I hope take solace in the fact that Gabo’s work will live on for generations to come.”
| Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, who had once famously feuded with Garcia Marquez. |
“A great man has died, one whose works gave the literature of our language great reach and prestige.”
| Chilean writer Isabel Allende |
“I owe him the impulse and the freedom to plunge into literature. In his books I found my own family, my country, the people I have known all my life, the colour, the rhythm, and the abundance of my continent.”
| Peter Englund, permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize-awarding Swedish Academy |
“A great artist is gone, but his grand art remains with us. Most authors are only shadows, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez belonged to those who cast a shadow, and he will continue to do so long after his death.”
| British novelist Ian McEwan, to the BBC |
“One would really have to go back to Dickens to find a writer of the highest literary quality who commanded such extraordinary power over whole populations.”
| Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto |
“On behalf of Mexico, I express my sadness for the death of one the greatest writers of our time: Gabriel Garcia Marquez.”
| Former US President Bill Clinton |
“From the time I read One Hundred Years of Solitude more than 40 years ago, I was always amazed by his unique gifts of imagination, clarity of thought, and emotional honesty … I was honoured to be his friend and to know his great heart and brilliant mind for more than 20 years.”
| French President Francois Hollande |
“With Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a writing giant who gave worldwide reach to the imagination of an entire continent has passed. … His committed articles as a journalist and his tireless struggle against imperialism made him one of the most influential South American intellectuals of our time.”
| Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff |
“His unique characters and exuberant Latin America will remain marked in the hearts and memories of his millions of readers.”
| Cristobal Pera, editorial director of Penguin Random House in Mexico |
“He is like the Mandela of literature because of the impact that he has had on readers all over the world. His influence is universal, and that is a very rare thing.”
| The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia |
“Gabo’s death is a loss for Colombia and for the entire world. His work will safeguard his memory,” the rebel group tweeted.