Chile: Victor Jara widow asks for US extradition

[Judi Lynn]

Chile: Victor Jara widow asks for US extradition
By FEDERICO QUILODRAN
Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 2:04 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 2:04 p.m.

The widow of Chilean folk singer Victor Jara is calling on the United States to extradite a retired military official charged with his murder during Chile's 1973 coup.

Pedro Barrientos Nunez now lives in Florida and has denied any role in the death of Jara, which is remembered as one of the Chilean dictatorship's most brutal crimes.

Joan Jara held a news conference Wednesday in the stadium where Jara and thousands of other leftists were detained during the coup. She said the charges against Barrientos and seven other former officers is a sign of hope that justice is possible for all the deaths and disappearances. More than 3,000 people were killed by state authorities during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20130102/API/1301020748

(Short article, no more at link.)

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Victor Jara and wife, Joan Jara

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40 years ago, they murdered Victor Jara. Now, arrest warrants are out.
December 30, 2012 By Norman Lebrecht

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Several songs:
http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/12/40-years-ago-they-murdered-victor-jara-now-arrest-warrants-are-out.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Chile Seeks Justice for Murdered Singer Victor Jara

Chile Seeks Justice for Murdered Singer Victor Jara
by Judy Cantor-Navas, L.A. | January 03, 2013 2:55 EST



[font size=1] Getty Images[/font]

A Chilean judge ordered the arrest of eight former military officials for their involvement in the death of legendary folk singer Víctor Jara, who was murdered in 1973 in the Santiago soccer stadium that now bears his name.

Six of the accused, who were army officials during the regime of Augusto Pinochet, surrendered after special judge Miguel Vasquez ordered their capture on December 28. One of those still at large, Pedro Barrientos Nuñez, lives in Florida. The Jara family is pressing officials to have him extradited from the United States, according to EFE.

An enduring icon throughout Latin America, Jara was arrested along with hundreds of university students in September 1973, just after the U.S.-backed military takeover led by Pinochet. According to court documentation, Jara was brutally tortured when he was recognized as a singer of socially-conscious songs. The guitarist's hands were broken and he was then shot 44 times.

Jara made eight albums. His legacy has lived on in numerous recordings of his songs, and in a current generation of young folk artists in Chile. Roger Waters dedicated a concert to Jara when he performed last year in Santiago.

http://www.billboard.com/news/chile-seeks-justice-for-murdered-singer-1008067482.story#

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Kolesar]

2. Another name I first heard in a Clash song...eom

[Judi Lynn]

3. U.S. should extradite ex-officer under Pinochet

Monday, Jan. 14, 2013
U.S. should extradite ex-officer under Pinochet
By CESAR CHELALA

NEW YORK — On Dec. 28, 2012, Judge Miguel Vásquez charged eight retired army officers with the murder of Victor Jara, a popular songwriter, guitarist and theater director who was killed days after the 1973 military coup against Chilean President Salvador Allende.

One of those charged is Pedro Barrientos Nuñez, reportedly the one who fired the final shot that killed Jara. Barrientos now lives in Deltona, Florida. His extradition to Chile would assist in trying all those involved in Jara's death.

The most recognizable voice of Chile's dispossessed, Jara was one of the founders of a new genre of Latin American song, and one of its best known practitioners. Jara was closely identified with the leftist social movement led by the late Chilean President Salvador Allende.

Jara composed "Venceremos" (We Will Triumph), which became the theme song of Allende's Unidad Popular (Popular Unity) movement. Jara and his wife, Joan Turner, were among the main participants in the cultural renaissance movement that swept the country after Allende's victory.

More:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20130114cc.html

[Judi Lynn]

4. Angel Castillo: U.S. must expedite extradition of this human rights violator

Angel Castillo: U.S. must expedite extradition of this human rights violator

By Angel Castillo Jr.
January 16, 2013

Besides commerce and tourism, one of the frequent exchanges between Latin America and Florida seems to involve murderers, torturers and financial fraudsters.

Hardly a month goes by without news of someone alleged to have committed notorious crimes in countries like Cuba, Haiti, Peru, El Salvador, or Honduras, leading quiet lives in the Sunshine State.

Sometimes, however, these international criminals living in Florida become the subject of extradition requests so they can face criminal charges in their countries' courts.

~snip~
Four days after his detention, Jara's body was found dumped along a rural road. An autopsy showed that his body had 53 torture lesions, multiple broken bones, and 44 bullet wounds, including a fatal shot to the back of the head applied at point blank range with a 9mm pistol.

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-accol-oped0116-20130116,0,5384217.story