Wednesday 27 May 2009

Chile News

An article which links in with a previous post of mine regarding the link between El Mercurio and the Pinochet regime:
Chile: Study Shows How Leading Paper Colluded with Dictatorship (IPS)

But clearly, today's big news is the arrest of an ex-soldier in conjunction with the murder of folk singer Victor Jara, probably the most famous crime of the Pinochet dictatorship after the ousting of Allende.

The accused, Jose Adolfo Paredes Marquez, was an army conscript at the time. Naturally this puts a whole different spin on the news. As Jara's family lawyer said,
"It is not our aim to chase down conscripts, I want to make that very clear. The conscripts formed part of the larger scheme of things, but they were the weakest and most vulnerable link, and cannot be held responsible. I am interested in the chiefs that gave the orders to execute Víctor Jara," said Caucoto.
Ex-Soldier Arrested for Victor Jara Murder (IPS)

Charge over Chile Singer's Death
(BBC)

Los estremecedores testimonios de como y quienes asesinaron a Victor Jara (Dirty Wars and Democracy)

How Victor Jara died, last minutes
(Chile from within)

1 comment:

Daniel Saver said...

Thanks for the tip about the development in the Jara case!

I am glad to hear that the Jara family lawyer is quick to point out that the real interest is to hold the higher-ups responsible...unfortuately, charges against low-level military officials/soldiers tend to draw all the attention and once a decision gets made the media loses interest in pursuing the commanders/generals. E.g., Abu Ghraib...