At last!! A scant piece of justice!! 8 retired Officers have been jailed for 15 years for their part in the terrible murder of Victor Jara and another was given 5 years for his part in covering it up. This follows on from a US court case where an ex-army lieutenant Pedro Barrientos living in America was found guilty of murdering and torturing Victor Jara. He is presently going through the process to be extradited to Chile to receive justice and has been ordered to pay £28 million in compensation to his family.
Victor Jara was a Folk Singer in Chile – a sort of South American Bob Dylan. He was a supporter of the socialist government of Salvador Allende who was deposed with the help of the CIA and replaced by the vicious dictator Augusto Pinochet (a friend of Margaret Thatcher). Pinochet was responsible for murdering 3,200 people and torturing 28,000. He was a monster.
Victor Jara is best known for songs such as Venceremos” (We Will Triumph). They killed him but they could not kill his songs.
Victor wrote songs of protest about injustices and songs in favour of freedom, justice and fairness. He was extremely popular with the common people.
When Pinochet’s coup took place they rounded up thousands of students and supporters of Allende. They were herded into a stadium and systematically tortured and killed. Thousands went missing and their bodies were never found.
Victor Jara was selected for special attention. They mockingly put a guitar in his hands and ordered him to sing. He sang We Shall Triumph. They smashed his hands and told him to sing. He continued to sing. They chopped his hands off with an axe and mocked him. He still sang. They smashed his teeth and ripped out his tongue and he still tried to make sounds. They killed him, tauntingly playing Russian roulette with him.
His body was thrown out on the streets riddled with 42 bullets.
It leaves me with a number of questions:
Is fifteen years prison adequate for such terrible things??
Why has it taken over 40 years for these monsters to be brought to justice?
Are the Tories happy to be associated with such people?
Why did Thatcher befriend, support and give succour to a monster like Pinochet?