The Killers of Victor Jara Finally Face Justice
V Jara, F.G. Lorca, R. Arenas: we grieve for all
HAVANA TIMES – Victor Jara’s killers were finally arrested. The Chilean singer and songwriter was murdered in Santiago’s National Stadium in 1973, a few days after the military coup that toppled the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende.
Even Chile, so intrinsically nationalist and conservative, is now detaining these subordinates.
Will Spain ever offer a unanimous moral condemnation of the assassins who murdered Federico García Lorca and Miguel Hernandez, or those who exiled Antonio Machado, Pablo Picasso, Manuel de Falla, Rafael Alberti? Or of the executioners of so many thousands of Spaniards who defended the democratic and universal values; decent and upright citizens who even today remain by the wayside, unknown and forgotten.
When will there be a condemnation from within and outside of Cuba of the express firing squads, the imprisonment of the unruly and those who dissented from the dictatorship, and the exile of so many valuable intellectuals and professionals like Sarduy, Arenas or Cabrera Infante?
Enough – this needs to end. Franco’s rule was one of the four most criminal episodes in the history of Europe, together with Stalinism, Hitler, and Mussolini’s fascism, and the greatest fratricide of all times in Spain.
And for their part, the Castros, with 56 years spent destroying the foundations of a civilized society in pursuit of the personal interests of their leaders have comprised a reign whose chronological length is superseded only by the 63-year reign of Isabel II. The latter, however has the saving grace that the iconic “queen” isn’t allowed to involve herself in domestic politics. On the contrary, for the Castro’s in Cuba there are no political issues that they’re NOT involved in.
Chile’s democratic voices were brutally silenced from the time of that tragic September 11 in 1973. From there on, Pinochet constructed a successful fiction: a model that was rich in economic benefits for the upper and upper middles classes, constructed upon the cadavers and the silence of the pariahs. This is closely related to the Spanish and Cuban phenomena; always when a dictator has managed to remain in power for enough time to plow the dust of forgetfulness over the blood of the victims, mute their cries of pain, and rub terror mixed with numbing drugs into the heart of their memories, the result is a people who become the victims of a peculiar kind of Stockholm Syndrome on a collective scale.
The result is that at times it becomes incredibly difficult to understand how in these three countries the people simply and plainly admit to being defenders of the accomplishments of Franco, of the Castros or of Pinochet.
Today we can celebrate the fact that justice moves slowly but surely – at least in the case of Chile.
Wasn’t this article supposed to be about the murder of a great musician?
Why do you spend more time on the U.S. than Cuba?
There you go again!
Why not mention Cuba nidal? Or is that too real for your consideration?
Your ability to ramble around on a world geographic tour is beyond compare, but I guess that one day you may by chance address the subject of an article.
Not sure Spain was the site of the largest fatricide in history. Rwanda? Russia? But that does not take away from this being a superb article!
Your comment makes no sense (no surprise there).
you should read about kissing history in Southeast Asia
You should first understand what the definition of war crimes is before you make accusations.
under US law death in the commission of a crime is a homicide , any of those who were involved in it at any level or considered co-conspirators , and subject to received the same sentence , Henry Kissinger is still alive and well ,the fact that they give him the Nobel price ( I don’t know what the hell for) should not be a deterrent from prosecuting him for genocide and war crimes.
On the subject of dictators committing war crimes the US is a democracy / Republic, and look at what’s going on , not only they have commit war crimes i
on all over the planet , they also propped up governments which is doing the same if not worse then they are, for example the Middle East.
War crimes death and misery is not justified if there are carried out by a democracy or dictatorship or religious zealots .
I belong to those who want to live and let live leave us alone .
Dictatorships be they of the right or the left are evil.
I had to re-read the third paragraph Martin as I was uncertain initially whether you were referring to the firing squads of Batista or those of Castro.
Elizabeth 11 doesn’t publicly involve herself in party politics, but eleven of the twelve Prime Ministers (they being her first (prime) ministers) who have served during her reign have commented upon the knowledge and wisdom that she has displayed at their weekly meetings. It would be erroneous to think that she is without influence.
Elizabeth 11 is also the Head of the Commonwealth with a membership of over fifty countries and Head of State for countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. As a child of eleven, she met Ribbentrop executed at Nuremburg and co-signer along with Molotov of the Stalin/Hitler pact to destroy Poland with Russia invading Poland only three weeks after Germany and carrying out the massacre of some 15,000 Polish officers at Katyn and some 7,000 intellectuals. She has also met twelve US Presidents and world figures including Ghandi, Mandela and the Dali Llama. One of the exceptions is Fidel Castro Ruz, but then she has little time for dictators.