Funeral ceremonies are about to begin in Montevideo for famed Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano who died Monday. A wake is being held in the country's Congress. The presidents of Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Ecuador along with leading Latin American intellectuals and writers such as Isabel Allende and Elena Poniatowska all sent condolence messages. In an interview with teleSUR, former Uruguayan president Pepe Mujica highlighted Galeano's role as vanguard and precursor to today's efforts to forge Latin American identity and unity. teleSUR