Will the murderers of Victor Jara finally be brought to justice? A Washington Post article brings the issue back to light
Thirty-seven years ago, the first "September 11" that is burned into the memories of millions across the world took place. On September 11, 1973, the elected government of Chile, headed by Salvador Allende, was overthrown in a military coup by generals headed by Augusto Pinochet. Allende and thousands of his supporters were murdered on September 11 and the months that followed. Once in power, Pinochet and the generals instituted the "free market" reforms that we are now facing in the USA, including charter schools, the privatization of public education (and other public services), the destruction of all independent unions, and the rest of the agenda. During the 1970s and 1980s, the programs were overseen by a group called the "Chicago Boys" because of their affiliations with my alma mater, the University of Chicago, and University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman. They never apologized for the ruthlessness with which they did their social experiments behind the bayonets and torture chambers of the Pinochet regime.
Augusto Pinochet, who worked with the U.S. CIA to overthrow the elected socialist government of Chile beginning on September 11, 1973, worked with American capitalist through the work of the so-called "Chicago Boys" (University of Chicago conservative economists who followed the economic dogmas preached by Milton Friedman) to implement "free market reforms" including charter schools, the massive privatization of public education, and the privatization of social security. Friedman himself actually spent time in Chile during the brutal dictatorship that released the so-called "free market", then later denied it when the facts about Pinochet's human rights violations (including the murder of Victor Jara) slowly came to light despite international corporate media and government cover ups). One of the nastiest parts of that history was the murder of thousands of grass roots activists in the months following September 11, 1973. The round up of those people was made possible in part by the fact that U.S. unions, including the American Federation of Teachers (see my small book "The American Federation of Teachers and the CIA") helped Pinochet create the lists of names of the people to round up.
Among the most brutal murders in those early days in September and October 1973 was the murder by Chilean military officers of Chilean folk singer Victor Jara, a socialist and supporter of Allende. At the time, the murder of Victor Jara was just part of the vicious attack on democracy and the reputations of the people who had been elected in Chile (to keep some feminists from supporting Allende, the CIA and Chilean military spread a rumor after they murdered the elected President that they had found "pornography" in his offices).
Chilean folk singer Victor Jara was murdered by the Chilean dictatorship within a week after the September 11 coup d'etat. Reports that reached the USA from survivors of the murders in the soccer stadium in Santiago, Chile, where organizers were taken said that Pinochet's free market military torturers cut the fingers from Victor Jara's hands then taunted him to play his guitar before murdering him.Now, 37 years later, the Washington Post is reporting, based on stories from the Associated Press, that some in Chile want the murderers of Victor Jara brought to justice.
Chile Lawyer Seeks Arrests in Folk Singer's Death, By Eva Vergara, The Associated Press, December 21, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122105505.html
SANTIAGO, Chile -- 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.
