Director: Márel Malaret

SANTIAGO (CHAGUI) MARI PESQUERA was murdered on March 24,  1976. He was 23 years old. He had gone out to pick up his young nephew in his sister’s car. He never returned. He was found in the car the next day with a gunshot wound to the temple. Since then, the family has never  stopped searching for answers to this crime.

Santiago had obtained his pilot’s license and was working for a small  company. He had no enemies and was not involved in any illegal  activities. Nothing in his life should have provoked that level of violence.  There was only one possible explanation: he was the son of Juan Mari Brás, founder of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party and an advocate for  Puerto Rican independence.

Santiago had obtained his pilot’s license and was working for a small  company. He had no enemies and was not involved in any illegal  activities. Nothing in his life should have provoked that level of violence.  There was only one possible explanation: he was the son of Juan Mari  Bras, founder of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party and an advocate for  Puerto Rican independence.

Henry Walter Coira, a neighbor and friend of Santiago and his brothers,  was charged with the murder. Henry had mental health issues. He  pleaded guilty, was tried, and served his sentence. However, every  investigation has concluded that he did not act alone. To this day, no one  else has been charged with the crime—a crime that many, including  various political figures, have called a political crime.

The 1970s were marked by violence and political persecution throughout  Latin America. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, was not immune to this  violence. Many were arrested and imprisoned for their political beliefs.  The murder of Santiago Mari is not the only unsolved case. The decade  culminated with the 1979 murder of Carlos Muñiz Varela—which remains  unsolved—and the killing of Carlos Soto Arriví and Arnaldo Darío Rosado,  two young independence activists, at the hands of the police in Cerro  Maravilla.

The context of politically motivated violence will serve as the backdrop for  this documentary project. However, its fundamental purpose is to shed  light on the tireless quest by Santiago Mari’s family to uncover the truth.  This quest stems not only from the outrage caused by injustice, but is also  a deeply human search born of love for a brother and the pain of loss  under circumstances that are difficult to erase from memory.

The documentary is also a commitment to society in the ongoing struggle  against the violence of those in power.

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