Sánchez, Ilich Ramírez (Carlos the Jackal) (1949–)

Venezuelan-born Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, more widely known as Carlos the Jackal, was involved in some of the most spectacular terrorist incidents of the 1970s and 1980s. He eluded police capture for more than 20 years.

Sánchez was born on October 12, 1949, in Tachira, Venezuela. His parents present a study in contrasts: his mother, Elba Maria Sánchez, was a deeply religious woman who enjoyed high society; his father, José Altagracia Ramírez Navas, was a fervent Marxist. He named his sons Ilich, Vladimir, and Lenin, after V. I. Lenin, leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution. From the moment they were born, José Ramírez intended his sons to be revolutionaries. Despite his Marxist beliefs, José Ramírez maintained a successful law practice; the family was well off and moved in the upper circles of Venezuelan society.

Carlos attended Fermin Toro Lycée, a secondary school famous for its leftist ...