Police have apprehended a fugitive convicted of kidnapping and murdering Victor Jara in 1973 during Chile’s military rule. The arrest was confirmed by a Justice Department statement on Sunday.
Victor Jara, a renowned singer-songwriter, wrote influential songs such as ‘El derecho de vivir en paz’ (The Right to Live in Peace). He played a pivotal role in the New Chilean Song movement, which combined music and social activism in the 1960s. Former military officer Nelson Haase was found guilty of Jara’s murder. Jara was tortured and killed with 44 bullets on September 16, 1973, mere days after General Augusto Pinochet’s coup against President Salvador Allende. Jara was 40 years old at the time of his death.
Court documents from 2023 described the severe physical torture Jara endured, particularly blows to his face and hands. On August 28, 2023, just weeks before the 50th anniversary of the coup and Jara’s assassination, seven retired military officers received prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years for their roles in Jara’s death. Haase, then aged 80, fled upon learning of his 25-year sentence.
A Justice Department statement announced the issuance of an imprisonment order against Haase. According to local reports, authorities discovered Haase in Los Lagos, a region 590 miles south of Chile’s capital. Among the convicted, General Hernan Chacon took his life when police attempted his arrest in 2023. The five other officers remain imprisoned, including Pedro Barrientos, whom ICE arrested during a traffic stop in Florida in 2023.
“On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a violent coup against Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president of Chile,” said an ICE statement at that time. “In the following weeks, many people were detained and tortured in Chile Stadium, which the military repurposed into a detention center. Many disappeared or were executed. Victor Jara, a popular folk musician, was among the most prominent victims.”
In 2003, Chile Stadium was renamed in Jara’s honor. Jara’s murder stands as a flagrant crime of the dictatorship era (1973-1990), which accounted for approximately 3,200 deaths and disappearances.
In Santiago, November 15, 2019, a demonstrator displayed a flag featuring musician Victor Jara during a protest against the government.
Photo by JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images
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