The Colombian Nobel Gabriel García Márquez had a daughter out of wedlock, named Indira, whose existence, unknown until now, was confirmed to Efe on Monday by relatives and friends of the writer.
The secret daughter of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature with the Mexican journalist and writer Susana Cato is approximately 30 years old old and was “the most sacred and intimate secret of García Márquez”, according to the journalist Gustavo Tatis Guerra, who revealed the news in an article published in the newspaper El Universal, of Cartagena de Indias.
In this regard, Gabriel Eligio Torres García, the writer’s nephew, confirmed to Efe the existence of her cousin Indira Cato, of whose existence there were only rumors among the closest friends of the author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” Died on April 17, 2014 in Mexico City, at 87 years of age.
“She is a bit shy, in fact it has been quite a slow process for her to approach the rest of the family; but yes of course, Indira, we have a communication with her, very good relations”, revealed Torres García, author of the book “The Garcia Marquez house“.
The girl was named Indira, apparently in homage to former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had befriended García Márquez during a trip he made to New Delhi in 1983 to accompany Fidel Castro to a summit. of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Indira Cato bears her mother’s surname, as it was Susana Cato who “made the decision not to take the surname García Márquez,” says Gabriel Eligio Torres García, adding: “Everything is fine, another cousin.”
Gabriel García Márquez had two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo., with his wife Mercedes Barcha, who also died in Mexico City in September 2020, and according to Tatis, the writer’s family and friends kept Indira’s existence secret for years “out of respect for Mercedes Barcha and loyalty to Gabo.”
“Indira is a normal girl and thanks to the fact that her mother never allowed them to give her the last name (García Márquez) she was able to grow up calm, study calmly and lead a calm life,” added her cousin in Cartagena.
A well kept secret
Gerald Martin, author of “Una vida”, the biography of Gabriel García Márquez, also briefly commented on the case with Efe from London, where he lives.
“I suspected it 30 years ago and I was almost definitely convinced 10 years ago; It is my rule of conduct not to speak publicly about lovers and/or their children without first speaking personally with the people in question,” he said.
Martin added that he would like to “reflect a little before commenting” because “it is news with many implications and consequences for many people.”
For his part, the Colombian writer Dasso Saldívar, Gabo’s first biographer and author of the book “García Márquez. The journey to the seed,” he told Efe from Madrid: “I think that any deepening of the subject carries the risk of touching and hurting deep fibers in the protagonists of this beautiful and delicate love story.”
“Now they have the floor, in case they wanted to do it, although I think that neither Indira nor her mother nor her brothers are going to do it, at least for the moment,” he added.
Regarding the reason for keeping Indira’s existence a secret, Torres García said: “I suppose, knowing how I met Gabo, that it was a way not to bother Mercedes, but also to please Susana’s decision, Indira’s mother. ”.
“Susana is the one who did not want her daughter to be given the surname García Márquez because Gabo was willing to do so,” she said, adding that as far as she knows, “Mercedes did not oppose Indira’s care at any time because in the end it was the blood of her husband, I say here”.
Three brothers
Gabo’s nephew explained that Indira Cato’s relationship with the writer’s other children, Gonzalo and Rodrigo García Barcha, “is very good, it has always been good.”
“They have always supported her and helped her a lot, they are beyond all this, they have never said anything and they know that this news was going to come to light and it was going to be known at any moment,” he explained.
According to the Nobel’s nephew, “Gonzalo and Rodrigo always knew of the existence of their sister, from the first moments and obviously they have asserted and respected Indira’s rights.”
“I already spoke with Gonzalo and Rodrigo and they told me to tell the truth and to say what I know,” he said.
A daughter, Gabo’s dream
García Márquez publicly stated on several occasions that one of his dreams was to have a daughter, so Torres García assured that the relationship between them must have been very good. “He would have gone crazy with his daughter; Gabo was always very attached to his feelings, more than anything else, towards his children.”
“I understand that Gabo was always in charge of Indira from the beginning and continued to be as long as he endured and left instructions to continue (doing) that way, because what Gabo said was sacred,” added his nephew.
Susana Cato, Indira’s mother, wrote with García Márquez the scripts for the films “The mirror of two moons” (1990) and “You don’t play with love” (1991).
Perhaps because of that heritage, Indira is immersed in the world of art. “I know that he works in cinema, he has made his short films,” said Torres García, who said that a few years before the pandemic she asked him for help to present one of her short films at the Cartagena de Indias Film Festival (FICCI). .
“I told him that I could help him but we agreed that he would appear completely incognito; Like nobody knew her, so it could be done, ”he said.
Also read:
Mercedes Barcha dies, the widow of Gabriel García Márquez and his support while he wrote “One Hundred Years of Solitude”
With anonymous letters, residents of a city in Colombia cope with quarantine
· “All stories”, the new collection of stories by Gabriel García Márquez
eldiariony.com
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.