While most of the world lauds Gabriel García Márquez as a literary genius, those from his hometown of Aracataca (on which Macondo in One Hundred Years of Solitude is based), feel little more than an abiding resentment. The author was in a position to help the town—many of its residents don’t have access to clean water—but did nothing:
García Márquez approved final blueprints for [a García Márquez] museum from his home in Mexico City but provided no other input or financial or public support. He never even visited. He left Aracataca no public works, no schools, no foundation—nothing for his hometown in will, decree, or action.
