Another very interesting documentary from Netflix's "Remastered" series, this one concerning the shocking murder of Chilean popular protest singer Victor Jara. Actually, Jara, as isn't really stated here, was involved in far more than just music. As well as politics, he was a teacher, poet, theatrical director and more besides. I'm sorry to say I had never heard of him before this programme but I was fascinated to learn of his life and times through this rather short documentary. Described as the Latin America equivalent to Bob Dylan and with his memory lionised on stage by other big-name western rockers of the stature of U2 and Bruce Springsteen, by the time the programme had ended, while I may not come to appreciate his particular style of folk-music, I certainly came to admire his bravery in putting his head above the parapet to get his message across in his country's struggle against a strict right-wing government backed by all areas of the military. Jara supported the socialist policies of left wing presidential candidate Salvador Allende who against the odds won a general election in 1970 to become the democratically elected president of his country.
However as I think we all know the right never really goes away in politics and sure enough, in September 1973 under the command of army General Pinochet, a military coup was successfully carried out during which the presidential palace was bombed, Allende committed suicide and many political prisoners were rounded up and taken to a sports stadium, Jara amongst them.
There he was recognised and singled out by the military personnel and taken away for special interrogation where he was personally tortured, including having his fingers broken and his tongue cut out so that he couldn't play the guitar or sing ever again before he was callously shot 44 times with his body dumped outside.
Ever since then his English-born widow has fought for justice and sought to get those responsible for his death charged with murder. With the restoration of democracy in Chile in 1989 and the demise and subsequent conviction of Pinochet for crimes against his own state, the hope was that the mystery surrounding who was responsible for Jara's death would finally be brought to light.
Eventually in 2016 the alleged perpetrator, an army captain of the time, was finally made to stand up in a Civil trial in Florida to where he had fled in 1989, after the collapse of the Pinochet dictatorship. The climax of the programme is the outcome of that trial and the odd postscript of the alleged perpetrator undergoing a voluntary lie-detector test as if to vindicate himself.
Although the programme certainly got its point across about Jara's significance and sacrifice, I felt that a lot more detail could have been cast on his life to bring him more fully out of the shadows. I, for one, would have been interested to know how he met his wife as well as a bit more detail on their children's lives subsequent to their father's death. I would also have appreciated more detail on the obviously volatile state of politics in Chile at the time and certainly a bit more delving into the USA's suspected involvement in the coup, as Nixon and Kissinger fretted over the spread of socialism on their own doorstep.
Almost 50 years on from the man's untimely death, I do wish that this episode had been shed on the life of a talented, courageous and honourable patriot even as I appreciate that his memory is now very much freely celebrated in his native Chile.
Let's hope that this documentary
continues to spread the word on this very deserving subject.
Viva Victor!
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