He also played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric musicians who established the Nueva canción chilena (New Chilean Song) movement.

Jara was arrested by the Chilean military shortly after the 11 September 1973 coup led by Augusto Pinochet, which overthrew Allende.

[3] The contrast between the themes of his songs—which focused on love, peace, and social justice—and his murder transformed Jara into a "potent symbol of struggle for human rights and justice" for those killed during the Pinochet regime.

[4][5][6] His prominent role as an admirer and propagandist for Che Guevara and Allende's government, in which he served as a cultural ambassador through the late 1960s and until 1973, made him a target.

In June 2016, a Florida jury found former Chilean Army officer Pedro Barrientos liable for Jara's murder.

[15] His parents were tenant farmers who lived near the town of La Quiriquina, located twelve kilometers from Chillán Viejo; he had five brothers.

At the age of five, his family moved to Lonquén, a town near Santiago de Chile, where his father, Manuel Jara, had rented a small parcel of land.

Jara absorbed these lessons and began singing with a group called Cuncumén, with whom he continued his explorations of Chile's traditional music.

[21] He was deeply influenced by the folk music of Chile and other Latin American countries, and by artists such as Parra, Atahualpa Yupanqui, and the poet Pablo Neruda.

[23] The authorship of this album, as well as its singles, was in the hands of Camilo Fernández, owner of the Demon label from its launch in 1966 until 2001, when he transferred the rights to the widow of Víctor Jara.

[25] In 1968, Jara released his first collaborative album entitled, "Canciones folklóricas de América" (Folkloric Songs of America), with Quilapayún.

Early in his recording career, Jara showed a knack for antagonizing conservative Chileans, releasing a traditional comic song called "La beata" that depicted a religious woman with a crush on the priest to whom she goes for confession.

The song was banned on radio stations and removed from record shops, but the controversy only added to Jara's reputation among young and progressive Chileans.

[28] In 1970, Jara supported Allende, the Popular Unity coalition candidate for president, volunteering for political work and playing free concerts.

After the election, Jara continued to speak in support of Allende and played an important role in the new administration's efforts to reorient Chilean culture.

[citation needed] After the coup, Pinochet's soldiers rounded up Chileans who were believed to be involved with leftist groups, including Allende's Popular Unity party.

[35] According to the BBC: There are many conflicting accounts of Jara's last days but the 2019 Netflix documentary Massacre at the Stadium pieces together a convincing narrative.

[39] On 16 May 2008, retired colonel Mario Manríquez Bravo, who was the chief of security at Chile Stadium as the coup was carried out, was the first to be convicted in Jara's death.

[40] Judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes, who oversaw Bravo's conviction, then decided to close the case,[40] a decision Jara's family soon appealed.

[41][42] On 28 May 2009, José Adolfo Paredes Márquez, a former Army conscript arrested the previous week in San Sebastián, Chile, was formally charged with Jara's murder.

[47][48] He issued an international arrest warrant for one of them, Pedro Barrientos Núñez, the man accused of shooting Jara in the head during a torture session.

On 4 September 2013, Chadbourne & Parke attorneys Mark D. Beckett[49] and Christian Urrutia,[50] with the assistance of the Center for Justice and Accountability,[51] filed suit in a United States court against Barrientos, who at the time lived in Florida, on behalf of Jara's widow and children.

[37][52] The specific claims were that: A 2009 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) legal petition which was published in December 2019 described Polanco as having been a "Captain of Army Intelligence," and noted that he had been detained through the jurisdiction of the Criminal Justice of Santiago in May 2004 for his role in a separate murder and was convicted in 2007.

The retired Army Brigadier, Hernán Chacón Soto, upon learning of the Supreme Court's now final and unappealable sentence, committed suicide the next day, before he could be arrested and taken to prison.

[10][11] His U.S. citizenship had been previously revoked by a U.S. Federal Court on 14 July 2023 after it was found that he willfully concealed material facts related to his military service.

[74] In 1975 Norwegian singer Lillebjørn Nilsen published a song called "Victor Jara" commemorating his killing, on his album "Byen med det store hjertet".

[77] German metalcore band Heaven Shall Burn's 2004 album Antigone includes a song named "The Weapon They Fear", paying tribute to Victor Jara.

[80] English folk musician Reg Meuross wrote a song named "Victor Jara" which is included on his 2010 album All This Longing.

[85][86] In 2020, Welsh musician James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers released Even in Exile a concept album about the life and death of Victor Jara with lyrics written by the poet Patrick Jones.