Carlos the Jackal
“In 1973, a twenty-three-year-old Venezuelan walked into a Paris apartment and opened fire on two intelligence agents. He escaped. No one knew his name yet.”
In 1973, a twenty-three-year-old Venezuelan walked into a Paris apartment and opened fire on two intelligence agents. He escaped. No one knew his name yet.
Case Context
In 1973, a twenty-three-year-old Venezuelan walked into a Paris apartment and opened fire on two intelligence agents. He escaped. No one knew his name yet. Weeks later, London. A man walked into a department store and tried to assassinate a prominent businessman. He missed. And vanished again.
Critical Turn
Back in Paris. A bomb at the Drugstore Saint-Germain killed two people and injured thirty-four. The attacks were escalating. Vienna. December nineteen seventy-five. He led six men into OPEC headquarters and took sixty oil ministers hostage. The world watched. He flew the hostages to Algiers. They were released for ransom. He walked free. No government could touch him. For the next two years he moved between Baghdad and Aden. States that saw him as an asset, not a criminal. The Cold War gave him sanctuary. Budapest, East Berlin — the Eastern Bloc kept him hidden in plain sight. But he wasn't hiding. Nineteen eighty-two and eighty-three — a series of bombings across Paris, targeting French railways and public spaces. Damascus next. The Syrian government gave him protection for six years. He lived openly. He gave interviews. When the Cold War ended, his allies vanished one by one. Only Sudan would take him. Khartoum became his last refuge. In August nineteen ninety-four, French intelligence found him. He was sedated in a hospital and put on a plane to Paris.
The Turn
Three trials. Two life sentences. The man they called the Jackal had run out of countries.
The Narration
What the film says
Paris, 1973
In 1973, a twenty-three-year-old Venezuelan walked into a Paris apartment and opened fire on two intelligence agents. He escaped. No one knew his name yet.
London, 1973
Weeks later, London. A man walked into a department store and tried to assassinate a prominent businessman. He missed. And vanished again.
Paris, 1974
Back in Paris. A bomb at the Drugstore Saint-Germain killed two people and injured thirty-four. The attacks were escalating.
Vienna, Dec 1975
Vienna. December nineteen seventy-five. He led six men into OPEC headquarters and took sixty oil ministers hostage. The world watched.
Algiers, Dec 1975
He flew the hostages to Algiers. They were released for ransom. He walked free. No government could touch him.
Baghdad, 1976–78
For the next two years he moved between Baghdad and Aden. States that saw him as an asset, not a criminal.
Budapest, 1979–83
The Cold War gave him sanctuary. Budapest, East Berlin — the Eastern Bloc kept him hidden in plain sight.
Paris, 1982–83
But he wasn't hiding. Nineteen eighty-two and eighty-three — a series of bombings across Paris, targeting French railways and public spaces.
Damascus, 1985–91
Damascus next. The Syrian government gave him protection for six years. He lived openly. He gave interviews.
Khartoum, 1991–94
When the Cold War ended, his allies vanished one by one. Only Sudan would take him. Khartoum became his last refuge.
Khartoum, Aug 1994
In August nineteen ninety-four, French intelligence found him. He was sedated in a hospital and put on a plane to Paris.
Paris, 1997
Three trials. Two life sentences. The man they called the Jackal had run out of countries.