Authorities in Chile have charged two former military officers and an ex-army prosecutor in the notorious 1973 murder of popular singer Victor Jara, murdered by Augusto Pinochet’s fascist goons with American backing at the onset of what would become a bloody 16-year dictatorship.

“This decision has to be celebrated and we hope this investigation can continue,” Said Victor Jara’s widow, Joan Jara.  “We know this marks a milestone.”

The three suspects join a list of eight former army officers who were charged in late 2012 and early 2013 in the killing of the Left Wing activist, theater director, and singer and songwriter. 

Jara was well-known for songs that tackled social and political issues.  He was swept up with thousands of other supporters of Socialist President Salvador Allende during the Pinochet coup and brought to the national soccer stadium, where he was tortured and killed, and his body dumped on the street in a shantytown in Santiago.

But Chile has never forgotten Victor Jara.  His image is painted on walls and billboards all over the capital, and a major national sports and entertainment complex – not the stadium of his execution – was named in his honor in 2004.  His songs of freedom are performed around Latin America to this day.