Patterns of Global Terrorism 1997 - Chile

Chilean authorities pursued investigative leads throughout 1997 in an effort to locate and apprehend four terrorists from the dissident wing of the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR) who escaped from a maximum-security prison in Santiago on 30 December 1996. In September, one of the escapees, Patricio Ortiz Montenegro, was detained in Switzerland, where he remains in custody pending the outcome of a request for political asylum. Chilean investigators are exploring the possibility that the other three escapees are in Cuba, where other FPMR members have sought refuge in the past. The prosecutor responsible for the case has asked the Cuban Government to provide information on the whereabouts of the three fugitives, a request that Chilean President Eduardo Frei repeated in November during face-to-face talks with Cuban President Fidel Castro at the Ibero-American summit in Venezuela. Havana has not formally responded to Chile's request.