By Pav Jordan
SANTIAGO, May 15 (Reuters) - A judge closed the book on Thursday on the brutal murder of one of Chile's most emblematic folk singers, Victor Jara, but the family protested because only one officer from the 17-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet was convicted.
Judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes ruled that Jara was killed 35 years ago by retired coronel Mario Manriquez Bravo. But Jara's family's legal team say the Army is protecting a circle of others also involved in the murder.
Jara, a Chilean socialist and singer-songwriter often evoked by international music superstars, was tortured and machine-gunned to death in the early days of the coup that launched Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship.
Pinochet died in December 2006 without ever facing trial for crimes during his rule, in which 3,000 people died, 28,000 were tortured and about 200,000 fled into exile.
"This is incredible, I was not expecting this," Joan Jara, Victor Jara's widow, told local radio. "I am very concerned that a case so emblematic should be closed like this. What happens to the other cases from the Chile Stadium?"
Jara was reportedly taken along with thousands of others to the Chile Stadium in Santiago on Sept. 12 1973, the day after the military coup began against the socialist government of Salvador Allende.
Witnesses say coup enforcers broke the bones in his hands and then told him to play guitar for them.
He is said to have responded by singing a socialist song to them before being tortured further and eventually machine-gunned to death.
"This has been a complicated investigation, looking at several theories, and finally all avenues of investigation have been exhausted and as such I have decreed the case be closed," Judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes told reporters on Thursday.
Fuentes had the responsibility of ruling who was responsible for the murder.
Jara's legal team said it would appeal the ruling, and said other officials in the Pinochet regime were also involved in the murder but were being shielded by the Army.
"We know there was a large circle of army officals involved," said Nelson Caucoto.
Manriquez Bravo, who was chief of security at Chile Stadium as the coup was carried out, is under house arrest and will be sentenced at a later date. The ruling can be appealed.
Chile has long grappled with bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes committed in the Pinochet era.
The former head of Pinochet's secret service is in jail, along with some two dozen other security agents convicted of rights crimes. Hundreds of other former members of his security forces are under investigation and victims and their families say justice is dragging its feet in still other cases.
The memory of Jara, whose best-known song is "I remember you Amanda" -- which has been revived in Chile in a reggae version -- still brings tears to the eyes of Chileans who lived through the dictatorship.
(Additional reporting by Antonio de la Jara and Erik Lopez; Editing by Frances Kerry) ((pav.jordan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: pawel.jordan.reuters.com@reuters.net; 562 370 4252)) Keywords: CHILE PINOCHET/JARA
By Monica Vargas
SANTIAGO, May 15 (Reuters) - Chile's Chaiten volcano groaned, rumbled and shuddered on Thursday, raising new concerns among authorities, as lightning bolts pierced the huge clouds of hot ash hovering ominously above its crater.
Chile's National Emergency Office, ONEMI, said heavy ash kept shooting from the volcano in southern Chile as it generated small tremors.
On the ground, heavy flooding hit the area around Chaiten as falling ash swelled rivers, overflowing their banks.
"There's been additional volcanic activity that we're really worried about," regional governor Sergio Galilea told reporters.
The Chaiten volcano, 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the capital Santiago, started erupting on May 2 for the first time in thousands of years, spewing ash, gas and molten rock into the air.
The government on Wednesday declared the town of Chaiten, only six miles (10 km) from the erupting volcano, off-limits for three months and reported that about 90 percent of the town had been flooded by the Blanco and Raya Rivers.
"The flooding has receded in terms of water. But there's a lot of material left, more mud than water," Galilea said.
Rains are normal during the southern hemispheric winter in Patagonia, but the deluge of volcanic ash has caused nearby rivers to breach their banks.
No deaths have resulted, but thousands of people have been evacuated within a 30-mile (48-km) radius, including the 4,500 residents of Chaiten.
The column of ash above the volcano, kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions, rose as high as 20 miles (32 km) early in the eruption but has since fallen back to about 4.5 miles (7 km).
"The decision to evacuate was very opportune, as was the decision to keep the zone clear for now," said chief government spokesman Francisco Vidal after a meeting with President Michelle Bachelet on Thursday.
Chile's chain of some 2,000 volcanoes -- 500 of them potentially active -- is world's second-largest after Indonesia's. (Additional reporting by Damian Wroclavsky; Writing by Lisa Yulkowski; Editing by Eric Walsh) ((lisa.yulkowski@thomsonreuters.com; +56-2 370-4290; Reuters Messaging: monica.vargas.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: CHILE VOLCANO/
(Adds quote, details, closing stock figures)
SANTIAGO, May 15 (Reuters) - Chilean stocks closed higher on Thursday as local bond yields eased, while the peso firmed against the dollar after the central bank executed its daily purchase of greenbacks.
The all-market IGPA index <.IGPA> closed 0.20 percent higher at 13,722.60 points, while the blue-chip IPSA index <.IPSA> gained 0.31 percent to 2,918.57 points.
Global markets turned positive on Thursday after crude oil prices dropped more than $2 a barrel, while local stocks were favored by lower bond yields, which had surged nearly 100 basis points in the prior four weeks.
"Local bond yields fell, which makes stocks more attractive," said Alvaro Pereyra, head of research with the BCI brokerage. "Yesterday's news about U.S. inflation was also a help. The outlook is more benign than it was before."
Chilean inflation-adjusted five-year central bank bond yields <CLBCU5Y=RR> closed at 2.99 percent, after surging as high as 3.2 percent on Monday.
Pereyra said oil prices remained high. "It's still at $124," he said. "Oil prices going forward are still a question mark."
Of Chile's 40 blue-chip stocks, 20 closed higher, 13 fell and seven were unchanged. Transport companies got the biggest boost as the oil price rally took a breather.
Leading shipper Vapores <VAP.SN> jumped 2.59 percent to 800 pesos a share, while dominant air carrier LAN <LAN.SN> <LFL.N> rose 1.28 percent to 5,550 pesos.
Other advances included regional retailer Falabella <FAL.SN> with a gain of 0.77 percent, and industrial conglomerate and wood pulp producer Copec <COP.SN>, up 0.81 percent.
Declines by No. 1 bank Santander Chile <STG.SN>, off 1.51 percent, and leading wine exporter Concha y Toro <CHT.SN>, down 3.11 percent, helped offset blue-chip gains.
The Chilean peso <CHILJ> <CLP=CL> edged 0.24 percent higher to close at 466.90/467.20 per dollar compared with Wednesday's close at 468.00/468.30.
The central bank on Thursday continued with its daily purchase of $50 million on the currency exchange as part of an $8 billion intervention to curb the strength of the peso against the greenback. (Reporting by Lisa Yulkowski; Editing by Leslie Adler) ((lisa.yulkowski@reuters.com; +56-2-370-4290)) Keywords: CHILE MARKETS/
* Yield spreads widen due to U.S. Treasury rally
* Sovereign dollar bond prices hold ground
* Venezuelan credit hurt by Interpol authentication
By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Emerging market assets gained ground on Thursday, with dollar bonds marginally higher and stock prices on growing hopes the U.S. financial market crisis has peaked.
A rally in U.S. Treasuries, based on soft May manufacturing data and a rise in the number of unemployed people remaining on government assistance after an initial week of jobless benefits, however, resulted in wider yield spreads for sovereign dollar debt.
"There is a certain sense that this phase of the financial crisis is winding down. Inflation remains the main problem at the moment," said Igor Arsenin, emerging markets debt strategist at Credit Suisse in New York.
(For more on the U.S. economy, click on [ID:nN15515443])
Key members of the U.S. Senate reached a deal on a sweeping housing rescue plan, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Progress on supplying aid to the ailing U.S. housing sector plus further accounting for bad mortgage-related investments by investment banks is raising hopes that financial markets might have a chance to start a recovery.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International's emerging markets stock index <.MSCIEF> was up 1.18 percent while the Latin American index <.MILA00000PUS> traded at record highs, up 1.31 percent on the day.
In the credit markets, the benchmark JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus <11EMJ><.JPMEMBIPLUS> yield spread widened by 6 basis points over stronger U.S. Treasuries to 261 basis points.
Spreads for Argentina's portion of the EMBI+ narrowed by 1 basis point to 558 basis points while total returns dropped 0.25 percent.
Argentina's bonds managed to hold onto a portion of their early gains on what appeared to be signs from President Cristina Fernandez that the government might be willing to resume talks with farmers currently on strike over a new sliding-scale export tax.
One leading farm figure, however, said on Thursday the strike is likely to continue.
Venezuela's bonds underperformed the market as oil prices fell and Interpol, the international police agency, said documents found on Colombian rebel computers were authentic but would not pass judgment on the actual contents.
Colombian charges that Venezuela and Ecuador supported the guerrillas but these two leftish governments dismiss the accusations as a U.S.-backed campaign to discredit them.
Venezuela's portion of the EMBI+ widened by 11 basis points to 668 basis points as total returns on the day fell 0.28 percent.
"The market traded better this morning, but into the afternoon, this Interpol report is putting pressure on Venezuela. I don't see why it should be a big deal but it's having a negative impact," said one senior trader at a German bank in New York.
"Trading volume is not great. Aside from Venezuela and Argentina, everything is pretty much steady as she goes," the trader added.
Looking ahead to Friday, Mexico's central bank is likely to leave interest rates unchanged at its policy-setting meeting. The benchmark interest rate is 7.50 percent <MXCBIR=ECI>.
"It looks like they will probably leave interest rates unchanged but will present a much more hawkish tone in their language in the communique ... Hawkish language would be positive for the peso and while it may not happen right away, a level of 10.40 to the dollar may be tested again," Arsenin said.
Separately, Turkey's benchmark sovereign bond slipped 0.25 of a point in price to bid 152.438, yielding 7.096 percent <TRGLB30=RR> on Thursday after the central bank raised interest rates in a move to undercut inflation pressures. The bank signaled further tightening could come. (Editing by Jan Paschal) ((daniel.bases@reuters.com; +1 646 223 6131; Reuters Messaging: daniel.bases.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MARKETS EMERGINGDEBT/
SANTIAGO, May 15 (Reuters) - Chilean stocks edged higher in afternoon trade on Thursday as oil prices ended an extended rally, while the peso firmed against the dollar after the central bank executed its daily purchase of greenbacks.
The all-market IGPA index <.IGPA> traded 0.27 percent higher at 13,730 points, while the blue-chip IPSA index <.IPSA> advanced 0.36 percent to 2,919 points.
Global markets turned positive on Thursday after crude oil prices dropped more than $2 a barrel.
"It seems oil finally hit its resistance level. After days of gains it's finally falling and it's had a calming effect on markets," said Antonio Fuenzalida, deputy manager of the Euroamerica brokerage.
Of Chile's 40 blue-chip stocks, 18 were higher in afternoon trade, 14 declined and eight were unchanged. Transport companies got the biggest boost from lower oil prices.
Leading shipper Vapores <VAP.SN> jumped 3.89 percent to 810 pesos a share, while dominant air carrier LAN <LAN.SN> <LFL.N> rose 1.81 percent to 5,579 pesos.
Other advances included Endesa Spain regional utilities Endesa Chile <END.SN>, up 0.4 percent, and Enersis <ENE.SN>, with a gain of 0.57 percent.
Declines by telecommunications company Telefonica Chile <CTCa.SN>, down 0.71 percent, and Banco Santander Chile <STG.SN>, off 1.5 percent, helped offset blue-chip gains.
The Chilean peso <CHILJ> <CLP=CL> edged 0.24 percent higher to close at 466.90/467.20 per dollar compared with Wednesday's close at 468.00/468.30.
The central bank on Thursday continued with its daily purchase of $50 million on the currency exchange as part of an $8 billion intervention to curb the strength of the peso against the greenback. (Reporting by Lisa Yulkowski; Editing by Leslie Adler) ((lisa.yulkowski@reuters.com; +56-2-370-4290)) Keywords: CHILE MARKETS/
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