Víctor Jara's second funeral

I only recently learned that the Chilean folksinger Víctor Jara was buried on my birthday. This week, on the way to work, I was listening to Jara sing, thinking about the first time I heard his voice on a trip to Chile nearly 10 years ago. I was only in the country for a short time, but the singer's image was everywhere, along with that of Mercedes Sosa and Violeta Parra, and I became intrigued (plus, my Chilean friend Luis had given me a book and tape of Parra's poemsongs before my trip). The lyrics of this song by Víctor Jara, "Canto libre" ("Free Song"), have stuck with me:




In the song, Jara sings, "Mi canto es un canto libre / que se quiere regalar / a quien le estreche su mano / a quien quiera disparar" (My song is a free song / that wants to give of itself / to whoever extends his hand / to whoever wants to fire upon it) and "Mi canto es una cadena / sin comienzo ni final / y en cada eslabón se encuentra / el canto de los demás" (My song is a chain / with no beginning or end / and on each link of the chain is found / the song of all the rest)."

These words are especially significant when we think of Jara's torture and death shortly after the Chilean September 11 (1973) - the coup which put Pinochet in power. The most recent autopsy reports, which took place in June 2009, identified 44 bullet wounds in Jara's body, as well as evidence of other torture.

Yesterday, 36 years after his death, a wake was held in Chile for Víctor Jara, attended by his widow, Joan Turner, his children, and the president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. In addition, some 10,000 others attended to honor the singer. In the president's words, "Our country has taken 36 years to return him to Chile and to his family, this Víctor that is ours, that is all of ours" ("Se ha demorado nuestro país 36 años en devolverle a Chile y devolverle a su familia, este Víctor que es nuestro, es de todos nosotros"). A funeral will be held today at 10 am, Chilean time.

Perhaps because I've studied the Spanish case much more than that of Chile, the public funeral for Jara reminds me of some of the more private commemorations and "reburials" that have taken place recently in Spain for the victims of the Franco dictatorship. Everyone deserves to be buried with dignity.