It's hard to conceive in the polite British Folk Scene of 2009 that being a folk singer could ever have been considered a radical and dangerous pursuit. But in the Chile of the late 1960s and early 1970s it most certainly was. Victor Jara was a teacher, poet, theatre director and popular folk singer and songwriter who, as part of the "New Song" movement, advocated revolutionary cultural and political change under Salvador Allende's democratic government. Allende's power was short-lived, however, and in a 1973 military coup, backed by the US Government, thousands of his political supporters were rounded up into stadium buildings, where they were tortured and murdered. As a prominent musician, his captors reserved particular attention for his guitarist's hands, which were mutilated before his death. He was 38 years old.

More than 35 years after the event a 53 year old former soldier has been charged with his murder.

You can see and hear Victor Jara singing here

And you can hear one of my own folk heroes Dick Gaughan singing a song in his memory. The song is written by Arlo Guthrie and Adrian Mitchell. "His hands were gentle, his hands were strong."