Former Chilean Army officer arrested in 1973 murder of folk singer Victor Jara

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A suspect accused of torturing and murdering Chilean folk singer Victor Jara following a 1973 violent right-wing military coup has been arrested in Florida. Chilean President Salvador Allende died during the coup.

Former Chilean Army officer Pedro Pablo Barrientos, 74, was arrested during a traffic stop in Deltona, Fla., by federal immigration and local law enforcement officers.

He is wanted in Chile for killing Jara in a sports stadium where the military had taken dissidents.

"Barrientos will now have to answer the charges he's faced with in Chile for his involvement in torture and extrajudicial killing of Chilean citizens," said Homeland Security Investigations Tampa Special Agent in Charge John Condon.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, multiple law enforcement agencies worked together to apprehend Barrientos.

In a statement , ICE described the circumstances of Jara's 1973 death.

"On Sept. 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a violent coup against Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president of Chile. In the following weeks, many people were detained and tortured in Chile Stadium, an indoor sports facility that the military commandeered as a de facto detention center. Many disappeared or were executed. Victor Jara, a popular folk musician, was among the most famous victims," the ICE statement said.

Barrientos was found liable by a jury in 2016 for killing Jara and was ordered to pay $28 million to Jara's widow, Joan, and daughters Amanda and Manuela.

Jara was a popular singer in Chile who had been described as the "Bob Dylan of South America."

According to the New York Times, soldiers who overthrew the elected government of Chile taunted him before he died and smashed his fingers with rifle butts, mockingly telling him he would never play guitar again.

Barrientes had allegedly bragged about killing Jara with his pistol, according to court testimony from former Chilean soldier José Navarrete. Jara's body was found with evidence of torture and 44 bullet wounds.

Following the arrest of eight former Chilean military officers charged in Jara's killing in 2013, family members called for "true" justice. Each of the eight were sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.