Chile lawyer seeks arrest of 4 ex-officials in singer Victor Jara's killing during '73 coup

[Judi Lynn]

Chile lawyer seeks arrest of 4 ex-officials in singer Victor Jara's killing during '73 coup
EVA VERGARA
Associated Press
8:26 p.m. EST, December 21, 2010

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean government lawyer is seeking to arrest four retired army officers for the killing of renowned folk singer Victor Jara during the 1973 coup.

The Interior Ministry's Human Rights Program submitted a formal request for their detention to Judge Juan Fuentes Belmar on Tuesday, according to an official familiar with the case. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to avoid influencing the magistrate's decision.

The case targets retired officers Edwin Dimter, Hugo Sanchez and Raul Jofre, and ex-prosecutor Rolando Melo, the official said.

Jara, a folk singer, theater director, communist and outspoken supporter of socialist President Salvador Allende, was detained in a stadium along with 5,000 other leftists when Gen. Augusto Pinochet took power in a military coup on Sept. 11, 1973. Pulled from the crowd, Jara was tortured and shot to death by the military as a message to the rest.

The killing turned Jara into an international symbol of resistance to the Pinochet government, which lasted until 1990.

More:
http://www.courant.com/entertainment/music/grammys/sns-ap-lt-chile-victor-jara,0,4363734.story





dissidents held in the stadium
September 11, 1973

Chile’s armed forces staged a coup d’etat against the government of President Salvador Allende, the first democratically elected socialist head of state in Latin America. Some three thousand were held in Santiago’s national stadium where guards singled out folksinger Victor Jara as he continued to sing protest songs. Jara was viciously beaten, and his mutilated body machine-gunned in front of the other prisoners.

The U.S. government, through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), had worked for three years to foment the coup against Allende. Striking Chilean labor unions, instrumental in destabilizing the Allende government, were secretly bankrolled by the CIA. During the brutal and repressive 17-year rule of General Augusto Pinochet that followed, more than 3,000 political opponents were assassinated or “disappeared.” The U.S. backed military dictatorship banned Jara’s music, image, name, and, for a time, even outlawed the public performance of the folk-guitar.

http://punsnotgunspeaceblog.com/signs-of-peace/free-funny-button-up-slogans-sayings-quotes-category/peace-dates-in-history/page/4/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Video of the day protesters found where Dimter works, and visited him.

http://www.elpueblosoberano.net.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads//2009/11/bianchi-300x257.jpg

Edwin Dimter Bianchi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA9lGZMgoQc&feature=player_embedded
9 minutes 12 seconds long.

I read a long time ago Victor Jara's daughter confronted him directly in his office. It's mentioned at the end of this article:

On May 25th of 2006 the FUNA Commission in Chile organized a massive demonstration outside the building of the Department of Labor in Santiago to denounce the presence of Edwin Dimter Bianchi. A group of 15 demonstrators, including Victor Jara�s daughter Amanda Jara, went up to the 14th floor where his office is located to confront the ex-military officer and hand out informational flyers to his co-workers. (For photos and notes of this event see: http://trincheradelaimagen.blogspot.com/2006/05/edwin-dimter-bianchi.html)

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0808-30.htm

This is the song he wrote, naming it for his daughter, Amanda:
Te Recuerdo Amanda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfESgtCTn1Q