Ex-Chilean Soldier Jailed for Murder of Víctor Jara

A former Chilean soldier, Nelson Haase Mazzei, has been arrested and jailed for his role in the 1973 murder of folk singer Víctor Jara, a prominent victim of the Pinochet dictatorship. Haase Mazzei, a retired colonel, was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in prison in August 2023, along with six other retired soldiers, for the murder of Jara and another man, Littré Quiroga.

Haase Mazzei had been a fugitive since his sentencing and was finally tracked down by Chilean police in the rural south of the country. A judge has ordered his immediate imprisonment. The Víctor Jara Foundation, set up by Jara’s widow, welcomed the news, but emphasized that it is difficult to see this as justice, given that it has taken over 50 years to bring Haase Mazzei to account for his actions.

Jara, a singer and left-wing activist, was arrested on September 11, 1973, the day after General Augusto Pinochet’s US-backed coup, and was held at a stadium in central Santiago along with thousands of others. He was tortured and murdered in the changing rooms, along with Quiroga, who was the national director of prisons under President Salvador Allende.

Haase Mazzei’s arrest is likely to be the final act in the long quest for justice on behalf of Jara, who was one of the most recognizable victims of the Pinochet dictatorship. The dictatorship, which lasted for 17 years, was responsible for the deaths or disappearances of over 3,000 people, and the detention and torture of tens of thousands.

Haase Mazzei had claimed that he was not at the stadium, but sworn testimony placed him at the scene. He was part of Pinochet’s secret police, the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (Dina), and worked closely with its leader, Manuel Contreras, who was sentenced to over 500 years in prison for crimes against humanity before his death in 2015.

The case against Haase Mazzei and the other retired soldiers was the result of a long and complex investigation, which included testimony from former soldiers and other witnesses. The sentencing of Haase Mazzei and the other soldiers was seen as a major breakthrough in the pursuit of justice for the victims of the Pinochet dictatorship.

Haase Mazzei’s defence has requested his transfer from a prison in the southern city of Osorno to Punta Peuco, a well-appointed jail north of Santiago, built to house human rights criminals of the Pinochet era.