Pongo en tus manos abiertas

The album includes songs written by Jara like "A Luis Emilio Recabarren", a song tribute to the founder of the Communist Party of Chile, Luis Emilio Recabarren,[4] and on other hand include Jara's versions from songs "A desalambrar" and "Camilo Torres" (a tribute song to the Colombian priest of the same name), both are by Uruguayan composer Daniel Viglietti. The album also include Latin American lullaby, "Duerme, duerme negrito", collected by Atahualpa Yupanqui,[5] "Juan Sin Tierra", a tribute song to the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata written by Jorge Saldaña and sung by Víctor Jara.[6] "If I Had a Hammer" written by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger and retitled "El Martillo",[1] "Zamba del Che", a tribute song to the Argentine guerrilla Che Guevara, composed in 1967 by Mexican Rubén Ortiz Fernández,[7] and "Ya parte el galgo terrible", written by Sergio Ortega and Pablo Neruda.[8]

"Preguntas por Puerto Montt" is a song commenting Puerto Montt massacre, Chile,[1] in March 9, 1969. Jara condemns the then Christian Democrat Minister of the Interior Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, one of the main authors of the massacre and for the death of 11 men, women, and children during the massacre of Puerto Montt.[9] The album contained "Te recuerdo amanda" ("I remember you Amanda"), one of Víctor Jara most famous songs,[10] which has been adapted to various languages and interpreted by various artists from all over the world such as Joan Baez, Robert Wyatt, Raimon and Cornelis Vreeswijk.

Luis Emilio Recabarren (1876-1924): the founder of the Chilean labor movement and the Communist Party of Chile in 1922. He dedicated his life to the political organization of the working class and he was the first to emphasize the important role that cultural activity and the arts could play in the development and emancipation of working-class people. Though Recabarren was not primarily an artist his conception of art and politics profoundly influenced progressive and popular artists and culture in Chile.

I PUT IN YOUR OPEN HANDS…
Laughter and blows,
Hope and protest.
A shout emerges crossing the large expanse of our territory.
It is the peasant nailing a plough on the land,
the worker filling the air with protest on May Day,
the student and his word
in street battles,
the youth,
that for being young,
cannot but look forward into the future.

And all this is present
in the youth that struggles
and in the song of protest.

The new song of Victor Jara unites,
from his position as activist of the people’s cause,
the spirit of the young generation of our land,
the lengthy tradition of the workers struggles
the awaken conscious of the artist
which is identified more than compromised with the people.

During these days in which the Communist Youth
gather for their VI Congress
to reassert their decision to receive the message
which places in their “OPEN HANDS”
the visionary father of the New Homeland,
Luis Emilio Recabarren.

We also place in the open hands
of all the Chilean youth
These songs that speak to us
about our convictions,
our hopes
of ourselves.

Side A

All tracks are written by Víctor Jara, except where indicated.

Side B

• Jara, Joan. (1983). Victor: An Unfinished Song. Jonathan Cape Ltd. ISBN 0-224-01880-9

• Pongo en tus manos abiertas (DICAP) - album text
• Víctor Jara Foundation site (Spanish language)
• Brief article about the Puerto Montt massacre by José Miguel Jiménez (Spanish language)