Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973)
was a Chilean teacher,
theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and
Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a broad array of works, ranging from locally produced plays to world classics, as well as the experimental work of playwrights such as
Ann Jellicoe
Patricia Ann Jellicoe (15 July 1927 – 31 August 2017) was an English playwright, theatre director and actress. Although her work covered many areas of theatre and film, she is best known for "pushing the envelope" of the stage play, devisin ...
. He also played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric musicians who established the ''
Nueva canción chilena'' (New Chilean Song) movement. This led to an uprising of new sounds in popular music during the administration of President
Salvador Allende
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...
.
Jara was arrested by the Chilean military shortly after the
11 September 1973 coup led by
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
, which overthrew Allende. He was tortured during interrogations and ultimately shot dead, and his body was thrown out on the street of a shantytown in
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
. The contrast between the themes of his songs—which focused on love, peace, and
social justice
Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
—and his murder transformed Jara into a "potent symbol of struggle for human rights and justice" for those killed during the Pinochet regime. His prominent role as an admirer and propagandist for
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
and Allende's government, in which he served as a cultural
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
through the late 1960s and until 1973, made him a target.
In June 2016, a Florida jury found former
Chilean Army officer Pedro Barrientos liable for Jara's murder. In July 2018, eight retired Chilean military officers were sentenced to 15 years and a day in prison for Jara's murder. Barrientos, who had his U.S. citizenship revoked in July 2023, was arrested in
Deltona, Florida, in October 2023.
Barrientos would be successfully
deported back to Chile on 1 December 2023, and was immediately taken into
PDI custody.
Early life
Víctor Lidio Jara Martinez was born on 28 September 1932. His parents were tenant farmers who lived near the town of La Quiriquina, located twelve kilometers from
Chillán Viejo; he had five brothers.
His exact place of birth is uncertain, but he was born in the
Ñuble Region. At the age of five, his family moved to
Lonquén, a town near
Santiago de Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...
, where his father, Manuel Jara, had rented a small parcel of land.
His father was illiterate and did not want his children going to school, so that they could help him in the fields instead. His mother, on the other hand, knew how to read a little and from the beginning she insisted that they at least learn the alphabet.
Jara's mother was a
mestiza with
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
ancestry from southern Chile, who had taught herself to play the guitar and piano. She also performed as a singer, with a repertory of traditional folk songs that she used for local events like weddings and funerals. The relationship between his parents became more tense with each passing day, his father began to drink and disappeared from the house several days in a row, leaving all the work in the hands of Amanda. Later, his mother moved to Santiago and took a job as a cook in a restaurant in Vega Poniente. Because she was so skilled she did well there and so she was able to educate three of her children, including Victor.
She died when Jara was 15. Jara began to study accounting, but soon moved into a seminary, where he studied for the priesthood. After a couple of years, however, he became disillusioned with the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and left. Subsequently, he spent several years in the
Chilean Army before returning to his hometown to pursue interests in folk music and theatre.
Musical career
After joining the choir at the
University of Chile
The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843. in Santiago, Jara was convinced by a fellow chorus member to pursue a career in theater. He subsequently joined the university's theater program and, through his talent, earned a scholarship.
He appeared in several of the university's plays, gravitating toward those with social themes, such as Russian playwright
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...
's ''The Lower Depths''.
In 1957, he met
Violeta Parra
Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and a ...
, a singer who had steered folk music in Chile toward modern song composition rooted in traditional forms, and who had established musical community centers called ''peñas'' to incorporate folk music into everyday life. Jara absorbed these lessons and began singing with a group called
Cuncumén, with whom he continued his explorations of Chile's traditional music.
He worked as a guitarist and vocalist from 1957 to 1963. He was deeply influenced by the folk music of Chile and other Latin American countries, and by artists such as Parra,
Atahualpa Yupanqui, and the poet
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...
. In the 1960s, Jara started specializing in folk music and sang at Santiago's La Peña de Los Parra, owned by
Ángel Parra. Through these activities, he became involved in the
Nueva canción
(European , ; 'new song') is a left-wing social movement and musical genre in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, characterized by folk music, folk-inspired styles and socially committed lyrics. is widely recognized to have played a profou ...
movement of Latin American folk music.
In 1966, Víctor released his self-titled first album; it was the only album released by the Demon label and was Víctor Jara's first solo work. The album would later be re-released under the titles ''Canto a lo humano'' and ''Sus mejores canciones'', and in 2001 an reissue on CD by
Warner Music Chile was released with the original title.
This version on
CD also included five bonus tracks, four of which are songs by Víctor Jara along with Cuncumén.
The album includes Jara's versions of some Latin American folk songs, such as "La flor que anda de mano en mano", and "Ojitos verdes"; as well as two Chilean folk songs, "La cocinerita", an Argentinian folk song, or "Ja jai", a Bolivian traditional.
The authorship of this album, as well as its singles, was in the hands of
Camilo Fernández, owner of the Demon label from its launch in 1966 until 2001, when he transferred the rights to the widow of Víctor Jara.
In 1967, released their second album homonymous, this album apart from the controversial song "The appeared" includes Jara's covers of folk songs from Latin America and Spain. The album was later released under the name of ''Desde Lonquén hasta siempre''. In 1968, Jara released his first collaborative album entitled, "
Canciones folklóricas de América" (Folkloric Songs of America), with
Quilapayún
Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''Nueva canción, Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with t ...
. In 1970, Jara left theater to devote himself to music.
Political activism
Early in his recording career, Jara showed a knack for antagonizing conservative Chileans, releasing a traditional comic song called "La beata" that depicted a religious woman with a crush on the priest to whom she goes for confession. The song was banned on radio stations and removed from record shops, but the controversy only added to Jara's reputation among young and progressive Chileans.
["'They Couldn't Kill His Songs,'"](_blank)
BBC News, World: Americas] More serious in the eyes of the Chilean right wing was Jara's growing identification with the socialist movement led by
Salvador Allende
Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...
. After visits to
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in the early 1960s, Jara joined the
Communist Party. The personal met the political in his songs about the poverty he had experienced firsthand.

Jara's songs spread outside Chile and were performed by American folk artists.
["Victor Jara," ''All Music Guide'', http://www.allmusic.com (16 January 2007)] His popularity was due not only to his songwriting skills but also to his exceptional power as a performer. He took a turn toward political confrontation with his 1969 song "Preguntas por Puerto Montt" ("Questions About Puerto Montt"), whose subject was
Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, a government official who had ordered police to attack squatters in the town of
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...
. The Chilean political situation deteriorated after the official was assassinated, and right-wing thugs beat up Jara on one occasion.
In 1970, Jara supported Allende, the
Popular Unity coalition candidate for president, volunteering for political work and playing free concerts. He composed "
Venceremos" ("We Will Triumph"), the theme song of Allende's Popular Unity movement, and welcomed Allende's election to the Chilean presidency in 1970. After the election, Jara continued to speak in support of Allende and played an important role in the new administration's efforts to reorient Chilean culture.
He and his wife,
Joan Jara, were key participants in organizing cultural events that supported the Chile's new socialist government. He set poems by Pablo Neruda to music and performed at a ceremony honoring him after Neruda received the
Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
in 1972. During this time, Jara continued to teach at Chile's
Technical University
An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...
. His popular success during this time, as both a musician and a Communist, earned him a concert in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. He was so successful that the Soviet Union claimed in their media that his vocal prowess was the result of surgery he had undergone while in Moscow.
On 11 September 1973, the Chilean military, with the support of the United States,
overthrew the Allende government, resulting in Allende's suicide and the installation of
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
as dictator. On the day of the coup, Jara was on his way to work at the Technical University. He slept that night at the university along with other teachers and students and sang to raise their morale.
Torture and murder

After the coup, Pinochet's soldiers rounded up Chileans who were believed to be involved with leftist groups, including Allende's Popular Unity party. On the morning of 12 September 1973, Jara was taken prisoner, along with thousands of others, and imprisoned inside
Estadio Chile. Soon after, he was killed with a gunshot to the head, and his body was riddled with more than 40 bullets. According to the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
:
There are many conflicting accounts of Jara's last days but the 2019 Netflix documentary '' Massacre at the Stadium'' pieces together a convincing narrative. As a famous musician and prominent supporter of Allende, Jara was swiftly recognised on his way into the stadium. An army officer threw a lit cigarette on the ground, made Jara crawl for it, then stamped on his wrists. Jara was first separated from the other detainees, then beaten and tortured in the bowels of the stadium. At one point, he defiantly sang "Venceremos (We Will Win)", Allende's 1970 election anthem, through split lips. On the morning of the 16th, according to a fellow detainee, Jara asked for a pen and notebook and scribbled the lyrics to "Estadio Chile", which were later smuggled out of the stadium: "How hard it is to sing when I must sing of horror. / Horror which I am living, horror which I am dying." Two hours later, he was shot dead, then his body was riddled with machine-gun bullets and dumped in the street. He was 40.
After his murder, Jara's body was displayed at the entrance of Chile Stadium for other prisoners to see. It was later discarded outside the stadium along with the bodies of other prisoners who had been killed by the Chilean Army.
His body was found by civil servants and brought to a morgue, where one of them was able to identify him and contact his wife, Joan. She took his body and gave him a quick and clandestine burial in the general cemetery before she fled the country into exile.
In July 2015, 42 years later, former Chilean military officers were charged with his murder. In August 2023, a Chilean court confirmed a ruling convicting seven former soldiers, who were aged between 73 and 85 at the time of their sentencing, and sentencing them to jail terms from 8 up to 25 years.
Legal actions
On 16 May 2008, retired colonel Mario Manríquez Bravo, who was the chief of security at Chile Stadium as the coup was carried out, was the first to be convicted in Jara's death.
Judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes, who oversaw Bravo's conviction, then decided to close the case,
a decision Jara's family soon appealed.
In June 2008, Judge Fuentes re-opened the investigation and said he would examine 40 new pieces of evidence provided by Jara's family.
On 28 May 2009, José Adolfo Paredes Márquez, a former Army conscript arrested the previous week in San Sebastián, Chile, was formally charged with Jara's murder. Following his arrest, on 1 June 2009, the police investigation identified the officer who had shot Jara in the head. The officer played
Russian roulette with Jara by placing a single round in his revolver, spinning the cylinder, placing the muzzle against Jara's head, and pulling the trigger. The officer repeated this a couple of times until a shot fired and Jara fell to the ground. The officer then ordered two conscripts (one of them Paredes) to finish the job by firing into Jara's body. A judge ordered Jara's body to be
exhumed in an effort to gather more information about his death.
On 3 December 2009, Jara was reburied after a massive funeral in the
Galpón Víctor Jara, across from Santiago's
Plaza Brasil.
On 28 December 2012, a judge in Chile ordered the arrest of eight former army officers for alleged involvement in Jara's murder. He issued an international arrest warrant for one of them, Pedro Barrientos Núñez, the man accused of shooting Jara in the head during a torture session.
On 4 September 2013,
Chadbourne & Parke
Chadbourne & Parke LLP, founded in 1902 by Thomas L. Chadbourne, was a 400 lawyer firm, which operated from
12 offices in ten countries. Chadbourne was known for its practices in project finance and energy, international insurance and reinsur ...
attorneys Mark D. Beckett
and Christian Urrutia,
with the assistance of the
Center for Justice and Accountability, filed suit in a United States court against Barrientos, who at the time lived in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, on behalf of Jara's widow and children. The suit accused Barrientos of arbitrary detention; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;
extrajudicial killing
An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, ...
; and
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...
under the
Alien Tort Statute (ATS), and of torture and extrajudicial killing under the
Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). It alleged that Barrientos was liable for Jara's death as a direct perpetrator and as a commander.
The specific claims were that:
* On 11 September 1973, troops from the Arica Regiment of the Chilean Army, specifically from
La Serena, attacked the university where Jara taught. The troops prohibited civilians from entering or leaving the university premises. During the afternoon of 12 September 1973, military personnel entered the university and illegally detained hundreds of professors, students, and administrators. Víctor Jara was among those arbitrarily detained on the campus and was subsequently transferred to Chile Stadium, where he was tortured and killed.
* In the course of transporting and processing the civilian prisoners, Captain Fernando Polanco Gallardo, a commanding officer in military intelligence, recognized Jara as the well-known folk singer whose songs addressed social inequality, and who had supported President Allende's government. Captain Polanco separated Jara from the group and beat him severely. He then transferred Jara, along with some of the other civilians, to the stadium.
* Throughout his detention in the locker room of the stadium, Jara was in the physical custody of Lieutenant Barrientos, soldiers under his command, or other members of the Chilean Army who acted in accordance with the army's plan to commit human rights abuses against civilians.
* The arbitrary detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing of Jara and other detainees were part of a widespread, systematic attack on civilians by the Chilean Army from 11 to 15 September 1973. Barrientos knew, or should have known, about these attacks, if for no other reason than that he was present for and participated in them.
A 2009
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese language, Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des ...
(IACHR) legal petition which was published in December 2019 described Polanco as having been a "Captain of Army Intelligence," and noted that he had been detained through the jurisdiction of the Criminal Justice of Santiago in May 2004 for his role in a separate murder and was convicted in 2007.
On 15 April 2015, a US judge ordered Barrientos to stand trial in Florida. On 27 June 2016, he was found liable for Jara's killing, and the jury awarded Jara's family $28 million.
On 3 July 2018, eight retired Chilean military officers were sentenced to 15 years in prison for Jara's murder and the murder of his Communist associate and former Chilean prison director Littre Quiroga Carvajal.
They received three extra years for kidnapping both men.
A ninth suspect was sentenced to five years in prison for covering up the murders.
In November 2018, it was reported that a Chilean court ordered the extradition of Barrientos.
On 28 August 2023, the
Chilean Supreme Court ratified the previous judicial resolutions. The retired Army Brigadier,
Hernán Chacón Soto, upon learning of the Supreme Court's now final and unappealable sentence, committed suicide the next day, before he could be arrested and taken to prison.
On 5 October 2023, Barrientos was arrested in
Deltona, Florida, during a traffic stop.
His U.S. citizenship had been previously revoked by a U.S. Federal Court on 14 July 2023 after it was found that he willfully concealed material facts related to his military service.
On 9 November 2023, it was revealed that Barrientos was ordered to be extradited back to Chile.
On 12 November 2023, Jara's widow Joan, who was a key witness in the 2016 civil trial against Barrientos and who also played a crucial role in raising awareness to Jara's murder, died.
Barrientos was reportedly two weeks away from extradition at the time of her death.
It was first reported that Barrientos was scheduled to be
extradited
In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...
on 28 November 2023.
However, it was later claimed that the date for his departure from the United States was changed to 30 November 2023, with his arrival in Chile expected to be the next day on 1 December.
It was also revealed that upon his arrival in Chile, Barrientos would be immediately transferred into
PDI custody and will have
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one juris ...
status.
His planned transfer to Chile would be confirmed by the nation's
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
on 30 November.
However, lawyer Almudena Bernabeudue and an ICE spokesman revealed that due to the fact that Barrientos answered to immigration proceedings and was now an
undocumented illegal immigrant, his departure from the United States would count as a
deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
rather than an extradition.
Barrientos would be deported back to Chile on 1 December 2023.
Upon his return, Barrientos left escorted by PDI personnel and was transferred to the
Peñalolén Military Police Battalion, where he would remain in
preventive detention
Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non- punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts.
Preventive detention sometimes involves the detention of a convicted criminal who has served their sente ...
as a defendant for his role in not only Jara's murder, but also the murder of the former director of prisons
Littré Quiroga.
Theater work
* 1959. ''Parecido à la Felicidad'' (Some Kind of Happiness),
Alejandro Sieveking
* 1960. ''La Viuda de Apablaza'' (The Widow of Apablaza), Germán Luco Cruchaga (assistant director to Pedro de la Barra, founder of ''ITUCH'')
* 1960. ''
The Mandrake,''
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise '' The Prince'' (), writte ...
* 1961. ''La Madre de los Conejos'' (Mother Rabbit), Alejandro Sieveking (assistant director to Agustín Siré)
* 1962. ''Ánimas de Día Claro'' (Daylight Spirits), Alejandro Sieveking
* 1963. ''
The Caucasian Chalk Circle'',
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
(assistant director to Atahualpa del Cioppo)
* 1963. ''Los Invasores'' (The Intruders),
Egon Wolff
* 1963. ''Dúo'' (Duet),
Raúl Ruiz
* 1963. ''Parecido à la Felicidad'', Alejandro Sieveking (version for Chilean television)
* 1965. ''La Remolienda'', Alejandro Sieveking
* 1965. ''The Knack'',
Ann Jellicoe
Patricia Ann Jellicoe (15 July 1927 – 31 August 2017) was an English playwright, theatre director and actress. Although her work covered many areas of theatre and film, she is best known for "pushing the envelope" of the stage play, devisin ...
* 1966. ''
Marat/Sade,''
Peter Weiss (assistant director to William Oliver)
[ ]
* 1966. ''La Casa Vieja'' (The Old House),
Abelardo Estorino
* 1967. ''La Remolienda'', Alejandro Sieveking
* 1967. ''La Viuda de Apablaza'', Germán Luco Cruchaga (director)
* 1968. ''
Entertaining Mr Sloane'',
Joe Orton
* 1969. ''
Viet Rock
''Viet Rock'' is a rock musical by Megan Terry that served as inspiration to the musical ''Hair (musical), Hair''. A violent denunciation of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, the play was described by its author as a "folk war movie" co ...
'',
Megan Terry
Marguerite Duffy (July 22, 1932 – April 12, 2023), known professionally as Megan Terry, was an American playwright, screenwriter, and theatre artist.
Terry produced over fifty works for theater, radio, and television, and is best known for her ...
* 1969. ''
Antigone
ANTIGONE (Algorithms for coNTinuous / Integer Global Optimization of Nonlinear Equations), is a deterministic global optimization solver for general Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programs (MINLP).
History
ANTIGONE is an evolution of GloMIQO, a global ...
'',
Sophocles
Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
* 1972. Directed a ballet and musical homage to
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...
, which coincided with Neruda's return to Chile after being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Víctor Jara (Geografía)'' (1966)
*''
Víctor Jara
Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and PCCh, Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a bro ...
'' (1967)
*''
Canciones folklóricas de América'' (with
Quilapayún
Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''Nueva canción, Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with t ...
) (1967)
*''
Pongo en tus manos abiertas'' (1969)
*''
Canto libre'' (1970)
*''
El derecho de vivir en paz
''El derecho de vivir en paz'' (The right to live in peace) is the sixth studio album by Chilean singer-songwriter Víctor Jara released in 1971 on DICAP and Odeon Records labels.
Composition and recording
The title song was written by Jara in ...
'' (1971)
*''
La Población'' (1972)
*''
Canto por travesura'' (1973)
*''
Tiempos que cambian (unfinished)'' (Estimated release: 1974)
*''
Manifiesto'' (1974; reissued in 2001)
Live albums
* ''Víctor Jara en Vivo'' (1974)
* ''El Recital'' (1983)
* ''Víctor Jara en México'' (1996)
* ''Habla y canta'' (1996; reissued in 2001)
* ''En Vivo en el Aula Magna de la Universidad de Valparaíso'' (2003)
Compilations
* ''Te recuerdo, Amanda'' (1974)
* ''Presente'' (1975)
* ''Vientos Del Pueblo'' (1976)
* ''Canto Libre'' (1977)
* ''An unfinished song'' (1984)
* ''Todo Víctor Jara'' (1992)
* ''
20 Años Después'' (1992)
* ''
The Rough Guide to the Music of the Andes'' (1996)
* ''Víctor Jara presente, colección "Haciendo Historia"'' (1997)
* ''Te Recuerdo, Víctor'' (2000)
* ''Antología Musical'' (2001)
* ''1959–1969 – Víctor Jara'' (2001)
* ''Latin Essential: Victor Jara'' (2003)
* ''Colección Víctor Jara'' (2004)
* ''Víctor Jara. Serie de Oro. Grandes Exitos'' (2005)
Tribute albums
* ''A Víctor Jara'' by
Raimon (1974)
* ''Het Recht om in Vrede te Leven'' by
Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk (8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch singer-songwriter and poet who lived and worked primarily in Sweden.
Born to Dutch parents in IJmuiden, Netherlands, he emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age ...
(1978)
* ''
Cornelis sjunger Victor Jara: Rätten till ett eget liv'' by
Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk (8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch singer-songwriter and poet who lived and worked primarily in Sweden.
Born to Dutch parents in IJmuiden, Netherlands, he emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age ...
(1979)
* ''Konzert für Víctor Jara'' by various artists (1998)
* ''Inti-illimani interpreta a Víctor Jara'' by
Inti-Illimani (1999)
* ''Quilapayún Canta a Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara y Grandes Maestros Populares'' by
Quilapayún
Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''Nueva canción, Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with t ...
(2000)
* ''Conosci Victor Jara?'' by
Daniele Sepe (2000)
* ''Tributo Rock a Víctor Jara'' by various artists (2001)
* ''Tributo a Víctor Jara'' by various artists (2004)
* ''Lonquen: Tributo a Víctor Jara'' by
Francesca Ancarola (2005)
* ''
Even in Exile'' by
James Dean Bradfield (2020)
Documentaries and films
The following are films or documentaries about and/or featuring Víctor Jara:
* 1973: ''El Tigre Saltó y Mató, Pero Morirá...Morirá...''. Director:
Santiago Álvarez – Cuba
* 1974: ''Compañero: Víctor Jara of Chile.'' Directors: Stanley Foreman/Martin Smith (Documentary) – UK
* 1976: ''Il Pleut sur Santiago.'' Director:
Helvio Soto – France/Bulgaria
* 1978: ''Ein April hat 30 Tage.'' Director:
Gunther Scholz – East Germany
* 1978: ''El Cantor.'' Director:
Dean Reed – East Germany
* 1999: ''El Derecho de Vivir en Paz.'' Director:
Carmen Luz Parot – Chile
* 2001: ''Freedom Highway: Songs That Shaped a Century.'' Director:
Philip King – Ireland
* 2005: ''La Tierra de las 1000 Músicas
pisode 6: La Protesta'' Directors: Luis Miguel González Cruz, – Spain
* 2010: ''
Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune'' Director: Kenneth Bowser
* 2015: ''
The Resurrection of Victor Jara'' Director: John Travers - United States
* 2019:''Masacre en el estadio.''
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
Cultural references

Joan Jara lived the rest of her life in Chile running the Víctor Jara Foundation, which was established on 4 October 1994 with the goal of promoting and continuing Jara's work. She publicized a poem that Jara wrote before his death about the conditions of the prisoners in the stadium. The poem, written on a piece of paper that was hidden inside the shoe of a friend, was never named, but it is commonly known as "
Estadio Chile" (Chile Stadium, now known as Víctor Jara Stadium).
On 22 September 1973, the Soviet astronomer
Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh found an asteroid that he initially called "SO2", but later he would end up calling it "
2644 Victor Jara".
The 1975 anthology ''For Neruda, for Chile'' contains a section called "The Chilean Singer", with poems dedicated to Jara.
In 1975 Norwegian singer Lillebjørn Nilsen published a song called "Victor Jara" commemorating his killing, on his album "Byen med det store hjertet".
Arlo Guthrie wrote a song called "Victor Jara" on his album ''Amigo'' released in 1976.
In 1977, Chilean composer
Leon Schidlowsky composed the ''
Misa Sine Nomine'' (''Mass Without Name'') in memory of Jara, setting parts of the
mass ordinary juxtaposed with Biblical passages in Hebrew, and texts in other languages by various contemporary authors, including by the composer himself, for narrator, mixed choirs with up to 36 voices, organ, and percussion.
The song "Washington Bullets" on The Clash's album "Sandinista!" contains the refrain: "Remember Allende and the days before, before the army came. Please remember Victor Jara, in the Santiago stadium..."
In 1987,
U2 included the line "Jara sang his song. A weapon in the hands of one though his blood still cries from the ground" on the song
One Tree Hill from their album
The Joshua Tree
''The Joshua Tree'' is the fifth studio album by the Irish rock music, rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 by Island Records. In contrast to the ambient music, ambient experimentati ...
.
In 1989, Scottish rock band
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...
dedicated the song "Street Fighting Years" to Jara.
In the late 1990s, British actress
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Emma Thompson on screen and stage, Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Emma Thompson, her accola ...
started to work on a screenplay that she planned to use as the basis for a movie about Jara. Thompson, a human rights activist and fan of Jara, saw his murder as a symbol of human rights violations in Chile, and believed a movie about his life and death would raise awareness.
The movie was to feature
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...
as Jara and Thompson as his wife, Joan.
German metalcore band
Heaven Shall Burn
Heaven Shall Burn is a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently sig ...
's 2004 album Antigone includes a song named "The Weapon They Fear", paying tribute to Victor Jara.
In 2007, a fishing schooner built in 1917 in Denmark was renamed after Jara. It sails at social and cultural events, and when it is not sailing it is located in the museum in the port of Lübeck, Germany.
The 2008 album ''Carried to Dust'' by
Calexico opens with the song "Victor Jara's Hands".
English folk musician
Reg Meuross wrote a song named "Victor Jara" which is included on his 2010 album ''All This Longing''.
The title song on
Rory McLeod's album ''Angry Love'' is about Jara.
In a list made by ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'', published on 3 June 2013, Jara is named as one of the "15 Rock & Roll Rebels", being the only Latin American to make the list.

In 2020,
Welsh musician
James Dean Bradfield of
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...
released ''
Even in Exile'' a concept album about the life and death of Victor Jara with lyrics written by the poet
Patrick Jones. In the same year, Bradfield produced a podcast on Victor Jara as a companion for the album.
On 7 September 2021, the Municipality of Estación Central approved the name change of "Avenida Ecuador" to "Avenida Víctor Jara".
On November 8, 2021, video game
Dead By Daylight released a character named Carmina Mora: a Chilean painter with a character description with references to Jara.
See also
*
Nueva Canción Chilena
*
Estadio Victor Jara
*
2644 Victor Jara
*
Brigada Victor Jara
*
Galpón Víctor Jara
References
Bibliography
* Jara, Joan (1983). ''Victor: An Unfinished Song''. Jonathan Cape, London.
*
* Kósichev, Leonard. (1990). ''La guitarra y el poncho de Víctor Jara''. Progress Publishers, Moscow
External links
Resources in English
Three chapters from Victor: An Unfinished Song by Joan JaraDiscographyVictor Jara: The Martyred Musician of Nueva Cancion Chilena
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090506012049/http://www.usip.org/library/tc/doc/reports/chile/chile_1993_toc.html Report of the Chilean National Commission on Truth and ReconciliationGDR Poster Art: Víctor JaraThe life and death of Victor Jara – a classic feature from the vaults ''The Guardian'', 18 September 2013
Allende's Poet Nick MacWilliam for ''
Jacobin
The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...
'', 2 August 2016.
Resources in Spanish
Fundación Víctor JaraLyrics of all his SongsDiscography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jara, Victor
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