Ex-soldier charged in 1973 Jara slaying

SANTIAGO, Chile, May 27 (UPI) -- A former soldier has been charged in the 1973 slaying of internationally renowned Chilean folk singer Victor Jara, authorities say.

Judge Juan Fuentes charged Jose Paredes, 54, Tuesday in the nearly 36-year-old case, Inter Press Service reported. A second former soldier questioned in the case was released.

Jara was killed at a temporary political prisoners camp shortly after the Sept. 11, 1973, coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet that toppled the government of President Salvador Allende. The camp's commander had been the only person prosecuted in his death.

Nelson Caucoto, an attorney for the Jara family, said the latest development was not the final resolution the family seeks.

"It is not our aim to chase down conscripts, I want to make that very clear," Caucoto said. "The conscripts formed part of the larger scheme of things, but they were the weakest and most vulnerable link, and cannot be held responsible. I am interested in the chiefs that gave the orders to execute Victor Jara."

Jara, who was married to British ballet dancer and choreography Joan Turner, was a leader of the Chilean Nueva Cancion, or New Song, movement of the 1960s. The musical style combined traditional Latin American folk music styles with modern and often political lyrics.

Jara was frequently compared to U.S. folk rocker Bob Dylan.