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Musician Victor Jara’s family has sued a retired Chilean army officer who lives in Florida for allegedly torturing and killing the folk singer and political activist after a military coup four decades ago. The Center for Justice and Accountability, or CJA, and Chadbourne & Parke, LLP filed the civil lawsuit on behalf of Jara’s family in a Florida district court.

A former Chilean army lieutenant now living in Deltona and accused of torturing and killing a folk singer during the dictatorship of Chile’s President Augusto Pinochet should pay for the slaying, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Florida this week by the singer’s family. The lawsuit comes as Chilean officials prepare to submit an order from that country’s Supreme Court requesting the extradition of Deltona resident Pedro Pablo Barrientos to Chile.

The surviving family of well-known Chilean folk artist Victor Jara, who was tortured and killed in a military coup in 1973, has filed a federal lawsuit against the army lieutenant accused of leading the execution — who has been quietly living in Central Florida. Jara’s widow and children accuse Pedro Pablo Barrientos Nunez of Deltona of carrying out a host of violations including crimes against humanity and torture.

The Center for Justice and Accountability (“CJA”) and pro-bono counsel Chadbourne & Parke, LLP (“Chadbourne”) today announced that they have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the surviving family members of Chilean folk singer and social icon Víctor Jara, who was imprisoned, tortured and executed in Chile during the early days of the brutal military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet on September 11, 1973. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Pedro Pablo Barrientos Nuñez (“Barrientos”), a current resident of Deltona, Florida and a former officer in the Chilean Army under Pinochet.

Human rights advocates called it a step toward justice Tuesday when a federal judge in Boston sentenced a Salvadoran ex-colonel to prison on separate charges as Spain attempts to prosecute him for war crimes during his country’s civil conflict.

The long quest to bring the Salvadoran military killers of six Jesuit priests to justice has received a significant boost, human rights activists say, with the sentencing of a former commander — on unrelated charges in a faraway Boston court.

Aunque fue juzgado por fraude migratorio y perjurio en Estados Unidos, el exviceministro de Seguridad se convirtió en el primer militar salvadoreño cuya vinculación a violaciones a los derechos humanos pesó para que lo enviaran a prisión. Montano deberá cumplir 21 meses de cárcel, a la que entrará el 11 de octubre para esperar el curso del pedido de extradición a España, donde es procesado por el asesinato de los sacerdotes jesuitas.

Los testigos en el juicio por fraude migratorio contra el exviceministro de Seguridad Pública salvadoreño terminaron de rendir sus declaraciones este lunes, en Boston, Estados Unidos. La lectura de la sentencia se pospuso para este martes y los querellantes esperan que abra el camino para tramitar la extradición pedida por España por el asesinato de los sacerdotes jesuitas en 1989.

A federal judge presiding over the immigration case of a former Salvadoran military colonel wants to know more about the status of Spain’s request for the United States government to hand over the defendant for a war crimes trial.

Colonel Montano may have continued living unnoticed in a Boston suburb, working in a sweets factory, if it weren’t for the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), which filed a criminal complaint in Spain against him for the massacre of the Jesuits, five of whom were Spanish citizens. Montano was brought to the attention of the US government after the CJA filed a criminal complaint in Spain against him for the Jesuits massacre (five of the priests were Spanish).