Havana, Apr 19, (RHC), -- The President of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), Miguel Barnet described Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who died on Thursday at the age of 87, as ‘irreplaceable.’

"Cuban writers are suffering the loss of this great and irreplaceable man. Gabo loved Cuba and Cuba will always love him", Barnet told reporters shortly after learning the news.

Barnet said that Garcia Marquez ”created his stories with phenomenal alchemy", describing him as a journalist "always aware of the convulsed reality he lived in. He had an advantageous position with regard to other contemporary writers—he was the spokesman of the popular soul."