The Postman of Isla Negra: Mario Jiménez and Pablo Neruda

The Fisherman Who Became a Postman

It starts in the summer of 1969 when a fisherman decides to leave his job to become a postman. At the post office, he was told that he had to go every day to Isla Negra (the Black Isle) to deliver letters to the renowned poet, Pablo Neruda.

Love, Metaphors, and Doña Rosa

This seventeen-year-old boy named Mario Jiménez falls for a girl who works at an inn with her mother, Doña Rosa González. Mario spent every day at the post office where Cosme delivered correspondence to Pablo.

Mario falls madly in love with Beatriz and woos her using metaphors. Beatriz feels the same way about him, but Doña Rosa does not want Mario visiting the inn anymore. She decides to write a letter to Pablo to tell him that Mario Jiménez is a "seducer of minors."

Political Shifts and Allende's Victory

Pablo receives a letter regarding his candidacy for President of the Republic. Although he was not enthusiastic about the presentation, he stood as a candidate. On September 4th, news arrived that Salvador Allende had won the election in Chile.

Pablo helps Mario convince Beatriz’s mother to allow them to become engaged. Eventually, the mother gives in, and they marry. Allende then appoints Neruda as the ambassador to Paris. While Mario loses his job, the Popular Unity government makes its presence felt in the cove when the Ministry of Tourism develops a holiday plan for textile factory workers from Santiago.

The Sounds of Isla Negra and the Nobel Prize

Neruda sends a Sony recorder with a built-in microphone and asks Mario to record all the sounds of Isla Negra. After some time, Mario and Beatriz have a son named Pablo Neftalí Jiménez González.

When Neruda wins the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mario and his family watch the ceremony on a television installed at the inn.

The Tragic End of an Era

Neruda becomes ill and passes away on September 23, 1973. Mario, Rosa, Beatriz, and even young Pablo Neftalí learn of his death via the television. That same night, men arrive to question Mario. He is taken away in a car by Deputy Labbé and another man. Inside the vehicle, he hears on the radio that troops have occupied the Quimantú publishing house and seized various journals, including:

• Nosotros los Chilenos
• La Paloma
• La Quinta Rueda

Years later, it is noted that La Quinta Rueda featured poets like Jorge Teillier, and a text titled "Pencil Sketch of Pablo Neftalí Jiménez González" remains a poignant memory of that time.