Thousands of people filled the Plaza de la Paz, in the Chilean capital, during the Thousand Guitars for Víctor Jara, which resumed in person after two years of restrictions due to Covid-19.
About two dozen artists took part last night in honoring the famous singer-songwriter and iconic figure of Nueva Canción, who was assassinated by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1973.
Songs such as Eligarrito, I Remember You Amanda and Plegaria a un labrador, were performed during the concert organized by the Recoleta Municipal Cultural Foundation.
Artists such as Magdalena Mattei, Roberto Marquez, Pancho Sazo, Francesca Gavilan, Carmen Lenco and Manuel Garcia participated in the event.
For the first time, Victor Jara performs citizen choirs, directed by El Troubadour Francisco Villa and brothers Ibarra Roa.
Jara was an artist with a strong social and political commitment and support for the People’s Unity Government of President Salvador Allende, whom he appointed as Ambassador for Culture.
After the coup of September 11, 1973, he was arrested when he went to perform his duties at the State Technical University and was subjected to long sessions of torture until his death on the sixteenth of the same month. According to the autopsy report, his body had 44 bullets.
“This is an act of memory, reparation, truth and justice,” declared the mayor of the municipality, Daniel Gadeau.
Gado thanked the guitarists, artists, and everyone else who made this tribute to the singer and composer possible in the ninetieth year of his birth.
The mayor called on all Chileans to continue working to build the state they had always dreamed of, and indicated that the struggle today is to achieve a new constitution that replaces the one in force since the era of the dictatorship.
Today, with this act of love, we meet again after a long time without being able to see each other’s faces, said the Communist Party fighter, referring to the cancellation of mask use from this weekend.
The ceremony concluded with an allegory of Right to Live in Peace, composed by Jara to condemn the war against Vietnam, but several versions of it have been written, including a recent version condemning and expressing repression during the 2019 Social Outbreak. Desire to make structural changes in the country. (Latin press)
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