Carlos the Jackal

Carlos the Jackal is the alias of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, a Venezuelan-born militant convicted of murders and other attacks carried out for political causes in Europe and the Middle East.

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1975 OPEC siege: A December 1975 hostage-taking at an OPEC ministers’ meeting in Vienna, led by Carlos and other militants. The siege became the defining operation attributed to Carlos and brought him international notoriety.
Venezuela: A country on the northern coast of South America, where Ilich Ramírez Sánchez was born in 1949. His Venezuelan origin shaped his early identity before his move into European militancy.
Johannes Weinrich: A German militant associated with Carlos’s organization and convicted for his role in attacks. Weinrich helped manage the European network connected to Carlos.
State-sponsored terrorism: Violence by nonstate actors supported, directed, or tolerated by governments for political ends. Carlos’s later operations involved relationships with states that sheltered or supported his organization.
Baader–Meinhof Group: The common name for the West German Red Army Faction, a militant left-wing organization active from 1970 to 1998. The group shared a revolutionary milieu with Carlos but developed a primarily German campaign.
Rue Toullier killings: The 1975 Paris killings of two French police officers and a Lebanese informant by Carlos. The murders led to his first French conviction and remained central to later proceedings.
Patrice Lumumba University: A Moscow university founded in 1960 to educate students from developing countries. Ramírez Sánchez studied there before being expelled and entering militant networks.
Hans-Joachim Klein: A German left-wing militant who participated in the 1975 OPEC siege and later became a prosecution witness. Klein’s account helped establish the roles of participants in the Vienna operation.
Revolutionary Internationalist Organization: A militant network founded by Carlos that carried out attacks in Europe and the Middle East during the 1980s. The organization coordinated attacks after Carlos’s break with the PFLP.
Abu Nidal Organization: A Palestinian militant organization led by Sabri al-Banna, known as Abu Nidal, from the 1970s through the 1990s. It was a rival armed network, distinct from Carlos’s PFLP ties and later organization.