1928. Born in Aracataca, Colombia. "... Everyone knows that I was born with the umbilical cord tangled around my neck almost strangling me. This was the origin of my terrible claustrophobia."¹

"... I happen to come from the Caribbean part of Colombia, which is a fantastic place--completely different from the Andean part, the highlands. During the colonial period of Colombian history, all the people who considered themselves respectable went to the interior--to Bogota. On the coast, all that were left, were bandits--bandits in the good sense--and dancers, adventurers, people full of gaiety. The coastal people were descendants of pirates and smugglers, with a mixture of black slaves. To grow up in such an environment is to have fantastic resources for poetry. Also, in the Caribbean, we are capable of believing anything, because we have the influences of all those different cultures, mixed in with Catholicism and our own local beliefs. I...