Thousands of people took to the streets of the Chilean capital Santiago on Saturday to pay their respects as the singer Victor Jara was reburied 36 years after he was killed in the wake of General Augusto Pinochet's military coup.

Mr Jara's widow, now in her 80s, led the funeral cortege through the streets as onlookers threw flowers onto the hearse. President Michelle Bachelet, who was also persecuted by the Pinochet regime, was among the mourners along with many other prominent Chileans including artists, human rights activists and university professors and students.
 

The singer was one of the most prominent victims of the 1973 military coup. He was a member of the Communist party and was one of many thousands rounded up in the days following the military's ouster of the democratically elected left-wing president Salvador Allende. After they seized power, the coup leaders immediately banned all left-wing organisations and arrested about 40,000 people, turning Santiago's National Stadium into a concentration camp. The popular Communist singer was also taken to the stadium, where he was tortured and killed. His body was dumped and discovered a few days afterwards.
 

In 2008, the authorities re-opened the investigation into his death and exhumed the body. An examination revealed that he had been shot more than 30 times. Earlier this year, a military conscript was charged with murdering Mr Jara. Jose Adolfo Paredes Marquez has denied responsibility for the killing. The person or persons responsible for ordering the murder have never been identified. Human rights organisations say more than 3000 people were killed by the authorities during the Pinochet dictatorship.
 

Victor Jara is still immensely popular in Spanish-speaking countries; some of his best-known songs include Te Recuerdo Amanda, Plegaria a un Labrador and El Cigarrito.