Ex-member of radical Marxist group scales balcony, escapes house arrest in Argentina
Leonardo Bertulazzi, 74, awaiting extradition to Italy, reportedly used harness to flee custody A 74-year-old former member of Italy’s radical Marxist group the Red Brigades has escaped from house arrest in Argentina, the country’s security ministry confirmed on Wednesday, after…
Noticia publicada originalmente por The Guardian — World en theguardian.com (se abre en una pestaña nueva). Minuto 24 no es autor de este contenido.
Claves de la noticia
- Leonardo Bertulazzi, de 74 años y exmiembro de las Brigadas Rojas italianas, escapó de su arresto domiciliario en Argentina, según confirmó el ministerio de Seguridad.
- Según el relato de un detective citado por La Nación, escondió su brazalete electrónico en un tubo con carne de cerdo y descendió desde un quinto piso.
- El ministerio ofrece una recompensa de 13.000 dólares por información que conduzca a su recaptura.
- Bertulazzi cumplía una condena de 27 años en Italia, dictada en 1987 por pertenecer a una asociación subversiva y a un grupo armado.
- Las autoridades advirtieron que el dispositivo había dejado de transmitir datos de movimiento y hallaron la pulsera abandonada en la vivienda.
Contexto
Las Brigadas Rojas fueron un grupo armado de extrema izquierda que actuó en Italia entre 1969 y 1980, período conocido como los «Años de Plomo». Su caso más recordado es el secuestro y asesinato del exprimer ministro Aldo Moro en 1978. Bertulazzi llegó a Argentina, donde obtuvo asilo en 2004 tras una primera detención en 2002. Ese estatus fue revocado y volvió a ser arrestado en 2024. Argentina aprobó su extradición a Italy en julio de 2025, tras rechazar la Corte Suprema un último recurso. La fuga pone en cuestión los controles aplicados a presos con medidas de vigilancia electrónica, y el caso se suma al debate sobre la extradición de exmiembros de grupos armados que vivieron refugiados en el país.
Resumen elaborado por Minuto 24 con ayuda de inteligencia artificial a partir de la noticia publicada por The Guardian — World. Puede contener imprecisiones: ante cualquier duda, consulta la fuente original.
A 74-year-old former member of Italy’s radical Marxist group the Red Brigades has escaped from house arrest in Argentina, the country’s security ministry confirmed on Wednesday, after he reportedly hid his ankle monitor inside a tube of pork and lowered himself from a fifth-floor balcony.
Authorities placed Leonardo Bertulazzi under house arrest in Buenos Aires in 2024, prior to his extradition to Italy to serve a 27-year prison sentence. He had received the sentence in 1987 for joining a subversive association and belonging to an armed group.
After years on the run, Bertulazzi was first arrested by Argentine authorities in 2002. He was freed a few months later and secured refugee status in 2004, but was arrested again in 2024 after it was revoked.
On Wednesday, Argentina’s security ministry offered a $13,000 reward for information leading to Bertulazzi’s recapture after he slipped out of detention.
The fugitive held a senior position in the Red Brigades, a radical Marxist organization responsible for attacks from 1969 to 1980, dubbed Italy’s “Years of Lead”. The group most notoriously kidnapped and assassinated former prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978.
Security footage showed Bertulazzi dropping from a building into a public road as cars drove past.
A detective tracking the former member of the Red Brigades reportedly told La Nación that Bertulazzi rappelled down from the fifth floor using a harness.
“First, he removed his electronic ankle monitor and placed it in a tube filled with pork, along with a blood pressure monitor to maintain the temperature. He then climbed on to a roof and, using a rope, lowered himself five meters until he jumped onto a vacant lot behind the building where he lived, and then scaled a metal gate to reach the street,” the detective said, according to the publication.
The footage, which indicated the time was 6.01am on 10 November, showed a possibly shaken Bertulazzi sitting down to rest for a few moments.
Police noticed his ankle monitor had stopped transmitting movement data and headed to the house, where they found the device discarded and Bertulazzi nowhere to be found.
Argentina approved his extradition to Italy in July 2025 after the country’s supreme court rejected a final appeal.
