Colombia to Pay Tribute to Garcia Marquez Tuesday

Colombia will pay special tribute to its late native son, the Nobel-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, with a solemn ceremony Tuesday.

The memorial, led by President Juan Manuel Santos, will be held in Bogota's Primada Cathedral, the country's culture ministry tweeted Saturday.

Garcia Marquez, who died Thursday at the age of 87 in Mexico City, was one of the world's most popular Latin American novelists whose "magical realism" told epic stories of love, family and dictatorship.

Colombia has already declared three days of mourning for the author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," with flags flying at half-mast, newspapers publishing special editions and folk bands singing in his honor in his native Caribbean coast town of Aracataca.

Santos will also be attending a public tribute at Mexico City's Bellas Artes cultural palace on Monday. The famous author lived in the Mexican capital for decades until his death.

Garcia Marquez has already been cremated but his family has not said what will happen with his ashes.