Guatemala to repatriate Nobel laureate Miguel Ángel Asturias

The remains of Nobel Prize-winning author Miguel Ángel Asturias will be repatriated from France to Guatemala on November 12. The 1967 Nobel laureate, who died in Spain in 1974, had been interred at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Guatemalan authorities have planned a series of national honors, including a state funeral at the National Palace and a Mayan ritual at an archaeological complex in the capital. The ceremony is expected to include Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú. Following the funeral, the ashes will be placed at the Miguel Ángel Asturias Cultural Center in Guatemala City.

In Huehuetenango, cultural organizers held discussions with local youth to commemorate the author’s literary legacy and the significance of his return to his homeland. The repatriation is being described by the author's family and government officials as an act of historical justice and cultural memory.