Former Chilean soldier convicted of murder and torture of singer-songwriter Victor Jara, Pedro Pablo Barrientos arrived this week in Santiago de Chile, having been deported from the United States, where he was being held hiding for decades protected by the authorities of this country.

Barrientos, whose extradition from the US was requested by the Chilean justice system in 2013, was arrested last October in Florida and stood trial for providing false information during his US nationalization process, which led to the revocation of his citizenship and, as he explained, , today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that ““This opened the possibility of his deportation to Chile.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement handed the former officer over to the Chilean Police Investigations (PDI), who arrested him and took him to the Peñalolén Military Police Battalion, where dozens of protesters waited outside for his arrival and shouted, “Murderer!”. At this military base he will be detained as an accused and will remain in pre-trial detention.

“Responsible for torture and murder”

A fugitive from justice in the United States for more than 30 years, Pedro Pablo Barrientos was prosecuted in Chile in 2012, and a year later the Chilean justice system sought his extradition for his alleged involvement. in the murder of a Chilean musician and then director of the prison service Littre Quiroga in September 1973, following Augusto Pinochet’s coup against former Socialist President Salvador Allende (1970-1973).

Juan Carlos Alarcon, journalist for the National Television of Chile, said in Aristegui Livethat the murder of Victor Jara’one of the most terrible crimes against humanity what the Pinochet dictatorship did.”

“He was brutally tortured for four days. His body was discovered with 44 gunshot wounds and 55 fractures.”he claimed.

According to Alarcón, for 50 years, all those responsible for the death of Victor Jara were in custody, except Barrientos, who evaded justice in the United States.

Following a civil suit filed in the American justice system by the singer’s wife, Joan Jara, who died just 20 days ago, and his two daughters, a federal court jury in Orlando found him responsible in 2016 for the “torture and murder” of the Chilean musician. For this reason, he was arrested last October at a roadblock in the city of Deltona, on the northeast coast of Florida.

“Unfortunately, he passed away not knowing this news”– said Alarcon.

US Citizenship Revoked

According to court documents, the former military man entered the United States in July 1990 on a visitor’s visa and married a U.S. citizen seven years later.

When asked for immigration documents, including permanent residence and citizenship, the former officer responded that he was not affiliated with any political organization or military service, and He denied that he participated in any genocide or the murder of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin or political opinion.

The judge found that the former military “deliberately concealed material facts related to his military service on his immigration applications,” for which he was deprived of U.S. citizenship.

Deported 50 years after the crime

Barrientos’s arrival occurs when 50 years since the death of the famous singer, songwriter and party activist, and four months after Chile’s Supreme Court, in a final decision, sentenced seven former soldiers to up to 25 years in prison for the kidnapping and murder of a musician.