President Obama: Extradite Victor Jara's executioner

March 12, 2015
Barack Hussein Obama II
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC.

Dear President,

We, artists and writers of the world, respectfully ask you to expedite the request for extradition of Pedro Pablo Barrientos Nuñez, former Chilean army officer charged by Chilean tribunals as one of the direct perpetrators of the murder of world-beloved singer Victor Jara on September 16, 1973. The request was issued by The Supreme Court of Chile to the US Department of State on January of 2013.

Barrientos has lived in the United State since 1990. His last known address was 475 La Vista Dr. Winter Spring, Florida, 32708. On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Judge Miguel Vázquez Plaza officially ended the investigations and 12 people were indicted, among them Barrientos, now the only fugitive in the case.

Victor Jara was a renowned theater director, poet, singer and composer. After his arrest on 9/11/73, his body, found in a vacant lot with 44 bullets, showed evidence of horrible tortures. Victor Jara was and is an international treasure. As such cruelty shocked the art's world, this extradition request is the last chapter in the decades-long judicial investigations that will bring to a close the long search for justice by Victor's family.  

Dear President, your action in accelerating this three-year old request will send a strong message to those on the side of silence and cultural annihilation. To quote the late Pete Seeger, "Quite often a good singer is punished ...(but) as long as we sing his songs, as long as his courage can inspire us to great courage, Victor Jara will never die" Please add your voice to the international community of artists on behalf of Victor Jara.

Please expedite the request for extradition.

Sincerely