CNN
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A Chilean national wanted in this country for the murder of left-wing singer-songwriter Victor Jara 50 years ago is now in custody in Florida, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Pedro Barrientos was arrested last week during a traffic stop in Deltona, Florida, ICE announced Tuesday.
Barrientos, a former military officer, was indicted by a Chilean judge in 2012 for Jara’s brutal 1973 murder.
“Barrientos will now face charges against him in Chile for his involvement in the torture and extrajudicial execution of Chilean citizens,” John Condon, a special agent with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Tampa division, said Tuesday. in a written statement.
CNN has reached out to Barrientos’ attorneys for comment.
Jara, a communist sympathizer, was one of the first victims of the military coup and the Chilean dictatorship in 1973. His body was found with 44 gunshot wounds and signs of torture.
“On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a violent coup against Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president of Chile,” ICE said in its statement.
“In the weeks that followed, numerous people were arrested and tortured at Chile Stadium, an indoor sports complex that the military commandeered as a de facto detention center,” ICE said. “Many disappeared or were executed. Victor Jara, a popular folk musician, is among the most famous victims.”
Barrientos then came to the United States in 1990 and overstayed his visa, according to court documents, but was able to obtain U.S. citizenship after marrying an American woman.
In 2016, a Florida civil jury found Barrientos responsible for Jara’s death and found him liable for $28 million in damages to Jara’s surviving family members.
This summer, Barrientos’ citizenship was revoked after a judge ruled that Barrientos lied on his citizenship application, failing to disclose his ties to the Pinochet regime.