Chilean convicted for Victor Jara death

A US federal court jury has found former Chilean army officer Pedro Barrientos guilty on charges arising from the murder of folk singer Victor Jara in 1973.

The jury found Barrientos killed the folk singer in the wake of the military coup in Santiago.

The court awarded $US28 million ($A38.19 million) in damages to Jara's widow, British-born Joan Turner Jara, and the couple's two daughters, Amanda and Manuela.

Barrientos, 67, who came to the United States in 1989, is a resident of Deltona, Florida, and has US citizenship.

Joan Jara and her daughters wept and embraced their lawyer on hearing the verdict, which came after two days of deliberations.

The verdict represents a "message not just to other perpetrators, but also to the United States government to expedite the extradition (of Barrientos) to Chile," plaintiffs' lawyer Catherine Roberts told EFE.

Barrientos faces criminal charges in Chile.

In his testimony, Barrientos denied having any knowledge of Jara in 1973 and said he only learned of the circumstances of the singer's death many years after the event.

Jara, a musician, actor, theatre director and cultural icon, was a prominent supporter of Socialist President Salvador Allende, who took his own life during the September 11 putsch.

The singer was arrested the day after the coup along with numerous students and instructors and taken to Chile Stadium, where roughly 5000 Allende sympathisers were being held.

Not long after his arrival at the stadium, Jara was taken into an underground passageway together with about a dozen other prisoners.

He was never seen alive again.The stadium has since been renamed in honour of Victor Jara.