Victor Jara - Comandante Che Guevara

[close] Victor Jara, Chilean folk singer was politically active in the Popular Unity Party and spoke in support of the democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende.

In the Chilean coup of 11 September 1973, Salvador Allende was murdered (with the backing of the US government). Jara was arrested; he was tortured under interrogation and ultimately shot dead (aged 40). His body was later thrown out into the street of a shanty town in Santiago.Jara's popularity and prominent role in culture led to his becoming a symbol of the struggle for human rights and justice worldwide after his death.

Decades of rule by military dictator Augusto Pinochet followed.