The concert Mil veus per a Víctor Jara. Xile i Catalunya: Memòria i futur 50 anys després del cop d’estat is being held in Av. Catedral on 24 September, at 10 pm, as part of the festivities for La Mercè. The event features a diverse range of artists, such as Ana Tijoux, Chilean singer, songwriter and rapper, the daughter of Chilean exiles living in Barcelona, the queer pop icon Javiera Mena, also a Chilean national living here, and Mc Millaray, Mapuche rapper and activist for the rights of indigenous people. Catalonia is represented by the singer-songwriters Rusó Sala and Sílvia Tomàs, both of whom have a special link with the Latin American country and Víctor Jara.

Borja Penalba and Marina Alcantud have brought together a band to back the five singers on this occasion, with the tribute to Víctor Jara also complemented with one of the most internationally recognised groups in Chilean nueva canción movement: Inti Illimani Histórico.

Víctor Jara, symbol of struggle

The singer-songwriter Víctor Jara is unanimously recognised as a symbol of the fight for freedom, which is why the song list for the concert is made up entirely of his songs.

A cultural ambassador for Salvador Allende’s government and international figure in the protest songs of the 60s and early 70s, Jara’s music and voice represented the demands of the Chilean people. This courage condemned him when the Chilean armed forces took over the Palau de la Moneda in Santiago. The author of songs such as El derecho de vivir en paz was tortured and murdered in the former Estadio Chile, the stadium which was renamed as the Estadio Víctor Jara when democracy was restored two decades later.