Trial of former Chile military officer for murder of Víctor Jara opens in Florida
Pedro Pablo Barrientos Núñez accused of torturing and killing folk singer
Jaras widow, Joan, expected to testify in Orlando federal courtroom
Richard Luscombe in Miami
@richlusc
Monday 13 June 2016 05.00 EDT
A Chilean army officer accused of murdering the popular folk singer and political activist Víctor Jara in the first days of Augusto Pinochets 1973 CIA-backed coup detat goes on trial in a Florida courtroom on Monday, a landmark moment in his British widows four-decades-long fight for justice.
Joan Turner Jara, who is 88, will be one of the key witnesses in the civil case to be heard in Orlandos federal court against Pedro Pablo Barrientos Núñez, a lieutenant in Chiles army that toppled the countrys elected socialist president, Salvador Allende, and installed General Pinochets brutal 17-year military dictatorship.
Barrientos is alleged to have tortured then shot Jara in the head in September 1973 in a locker room at Santiagos Chile Stadium, where thousands of perceived subversives, activists and communists were rounded up and detained by Pinochets forces. Jaras mutilated body was later found dumped outside the stadium with 44 bullet wounds.
Almost 3,100 people were killed during the Pinochet regime, according to Chiles truth and justice commission, including 1,000 disappeared whose bodies were never found.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/13/victor-jara-trial-former-chile-military-officer-florida