SANTIAGO – After 17 years of imprisonment in Brazil, Mauricio Hernández Norambuena, the former leader of the far-left group Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez, was extradited to Chile. Hernández carried out various actions against the Pinochet dictatorship, including an attempt to murder the dictator himself. The well-known “Comandante Ramiro” is being held at the high security prison in Santiago, to serve out a reduced sentence.
Mauricio Hernández Norambuena is back in the news—this after last Sunday when his relatives accused Brazil of illegally transferring him from the Avarê Penitentiary to Federal Police dependencies in São Paulo, as part of the preparation for his extradition to Chile.
Since then, the Chilean Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Hernández was being extradited to Chile, after 17 years of imprisonment in Brazil for a kidnapping there.
The extradition was accomplished in the early hours of Tuesday, August 20, when Hernández entered Chile via Chilean Air Force transport, and was later transferred to Santiago High Security Prison.
Who is Mauricio Hernández Norambuena?
Hernández is a guerrilla and former head of the far-left group, Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez (Patriotic Front Manuel Rodríguez aka FPMR), where he was best known as “Comandante Ramiro.”
Hernández graduated as a professor of Physical Education at the Universidad de Chile in Valparaíso. It was there he also began participating in the Communist Youth of Chile. He subsequently joined FPMR in 1983, prompted by frentista Cecilia Magni, known as “Comandante Tamara.”
During Hernández’s time with FPMR, he carried out various actions against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, for which he was listed as a terrorist.
Among Hernández’s more notable actions were the so-called “XXI century operation” to assassinate Pinochet, the kidnapping of the son of the owner of El Mercurio, and his participation in directing the murder of Senator Jaime Guzmán.
In 1993, he was arrested in Chile for his participation in these violent acts and sentenced to two life terms.
“The Escape of the Century”
After three years of detention, however, “Comandante Ramiro,” and three other frentistas, Ricardo Palma Salamanca, Pablo Muñoz Hoffmann, and Patricio Ortiz Montenegro, escaped from the Santiago High Security Prison in spectacular fashion in a helicopter.
The escape went on to be called “the Escape of the Century” and “Operación Vuelo de Justicia” (Operation Flight of Justice) by the FPMR.
After escaping, Hernández traveled to Cuba. In 1998, he left the island to travel Central America, and later arrived in Colombia, where he joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia aka FARC. Research indicates that after this he visited Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil, and finally established himself in the city of São Paulo.
While in Brazil, on February 2, 2002, Hernández was taken into custody and convicted for kidnapping Brazilian businessman Washington Olivetto. He has been in prison in Brazil ever since.
Now, however, Hernández will continue his sentence in Chile, following negotiations with Brazilian authorities, who pledged to reduce the life sentence to 30 years, discounting the three years he has already served as an inmate at the Santiago High Security Prison, as indicated by La Tercera.
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Nelson Quiroz is Chile Today´s photographer. He also writes about youth culture and fashion, and often contributes with photo series during marches and protests.