(These marchers in the funeral are holding signs up that say "Truth and Justice" -- "Verdad y Justicia." Let's have some of that in this country, starting with an official inquiry into the Bush administration's wars of aggression, then moving onto the thieves on Wall Street who have bankrupt the world, finally focusing on the politicians in Congress who are in this up to their elbows).
Victor Jara was a Chilean singer, songwriter, activist, theatrical performer, one of the founders of Nueva Cancion, who was murdered in the Chilean coup of September 11, 1973, in which the democratically-elected President Salvador Allende was overthrown and the fascist dictator Pinochet, chosen by the United States to rule, took control of the country and murdered thousands, including Victor Jara.
This summer, the body of Victor Jara was exumed to determine an official cause of death. The determination is final: he was murdered, tortured and then shot over 40 times by the fascist military and police.
Victor Jara's official funeral took place yesterday, following a two-day wake, thirty-six years after he was murdered. He and his life and works are once again being celebrated by thousands of people in Chile who are again marching in the streets, inspired by Victor Jara, people still standing up for freedom.
The odd thing is that this gets so little coverage in the U.S., the country that created and directed the coup, but is widely covered in the rest of the world where Victor Jara's is considered a brilliant man, his death a terrible loss to the world.
(From the CBC News - Canadian):
"Chileans mourn singer Victor Jara, Pinochet victim"
"Thousands of mourners turned out in Santiago [yesterday] for the funeral of Chilean folksinger Victor Jara, who was given a formal burial 36 years after he was tortured and killed during the regime of Augusto Pinochet."
"Jara was a popular singer and theatre director when he was shot dead by the military, barely a week after Pinochet led a coup against the government of Salvador Allende in 1973. At the time, the singer's widow, Joan, had to arrange a quick, secret burial before escaping the country into exile. Jara soon became a symbol of the opposition to Pinochet's brutal rule."
...
"'Finally, after 36 years, Víctor can rest in peace,' said Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, who herself was a victim of the Pinochet regime and also spent many years in exile. Thousands of Chileans filed past Jara's coffin during a two-day wake for the singer prior to his official burial on Saturday."
...
"The singer is having a second burial because his body was exhumed in June so investigators could find out more about how he was murdered and who might be held accountable. [The singer was tortured and shot]. Soldiers pumped some 40 bullets into [Victor Jara's] body. ".... http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/12/06/chile-jara-funeral.html?ref=rss
If they want somebody to hold accountable for the death, I'd suggest they start with an inquiry into the role of Henry Kissinger.
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