After 45 years, they condemn the murderers of Víctor Jara

The homicide of this legend of the Chilean song took place at the beginning of the dictatorship of Pinochet

SANTIAGO, Chile.- They have spent almost 45 years of allegations, expert reports and statements; closures of abstracts and investigations paralyzed. But in a landmark ruling, the Chilean justice has sentenced eight retired soldiers and a lawyer responsible for the murder of Víctor Jara, one of the most recognized voices of popular music in Chile and Latin America, murdered in September 1973 During the first days of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet

The trial decision of Judge Miguel Vázquez Plaza, a member of the Appellate Court appointed for cases of human rights violations. man, also established the guilt of the ex-accused in death of the director of the prisons of the time Littré Quiroga, that same month. "On 13 and 15 September 1973, interrogations were conducted outside any judicial proceedings at Estadio Chile, detention center at that time, among the interrogated were Víctor Jara Martínez and Littre Quiroga Carvajal." On September 15, 1973, Jara and Quiroga were taken to the enclosure enclosure area, where they were killed by 44 and 23 bullets, respectively, "said the Chilean judicial service, which also determined what was going on. Was pbaded after the run. "After the two homicides, the bodies were removed from Estadio Chile and thrown onto public roads in vacant land near the metropolitan cemetery, where they were recognized by locals who cleaned and transferred them at the Legal Medical Institute ".

The convictions were pronounced against Hugo Sánchez, Raúl Jofré, Edwin Dimter, Nelson Haase, Ernesto Bethke, Juan Jara, Hernán Chacón and Patricio Vásquez, sentenced to fifteen years in prison as perpetrators of three crimes. years as the perpetrators of the simple abduction of the two victims.

When Victor Jara won in 1969 the first Chilean Popular Song Festival became automatically the natural heir and icon of the New Chilean song movement after Violeta Parra's suicide in 1967. In this movement there were groups like Quilapayún, Inti Illimani, Isabel and Ángel Parra, who in one way or another accompanied the civic and political process that led to the party of the Popular Unity and at the election of Salvador Allende in 1970.

Until then, Víctor Jara was already recognized as a compiler of forgotten songs of Chilean folklore and an author of themes based on own experience. Jara had a peasant background. In 1957 he entered the Theater School of the University of Chile, at which time he met his teacher Violeta Parra. Between 1960 and 1967, he worked intensely as a director and playwright. At the same time, he did his musical work. In 1968 he became artistic director of the Quilapayún ensemble. In the following years his intensified solo work with themes that turn into hymns for young Latin Americans like "Ni chicha ni limoná", "Canto libre", "The right to live in peace", "I remember you Amanda "," Plegaria has a labrador "and" La poblacion ", creations of a poetic force that makes him one of the greatest representatives of the resurgence and innovation of popular song in Latin America.