My Interview With Carlos the Jackal

From the early 1970’s until his capture in Sudan by the French in 1994, there was no terrorist worldwide feared as much as Carlos the Jackal.  He has forever steadfastly remained silent about his exploits and motivations.  Until now.  With that, I am pleased to announce that I have returned from Paris where Carlos is serving a triple life prison sentence, and over three days last week I took and recorded Carlos’ first in-depth interview ever, with EVERYTHING on the table for discussion. 

Carlos was a combination of blunt, crass, adamant, pensive, calculated and sometimes temperamental, but provided surprising revelations about his “professional revolutionary” upbringing, training and violent activities that led to his being known as “the most dangerous man in the world.”  He is fluent in eight languages and clearly very smart, claiming to have a 140 IQ, which would not surprise me.

From the opening introduction on Day 1, Carlos was full of surprises:

Chuck:  “Good afternoon. I know that I’m speaking with Illich Ramirez Sanchez, commonly known as Carlos.  This is Chuck Lichtman. As you know, I’m a writer, journalist and lawyer from America.”

Carlos:  “Yeah, nice to talk to you.  I like lawyers. My father was a lawyer.  My present wife is a lawyer.  I hope our conversation will be productive because a lot of bullshit has been written about me.  I’m a mercenary.  I’m a drug addict.  All kinds of things, you know?”  

Early on I asked Carlos if he ever acted against the United States.  Carlos replied: “We never did anything against the United States.  We had a rule.  Only if the Soviets supported us. If the Soviets supported us, we could do anything.” 

Never before reported, Carlos said that when he was about ten, his family moved from Venezuela to a Cuban neighborhood in Miami for about six months.  At that time, his Communist father was recruiting Venezuelan military officers living in exile in the U.S. to stage a coup de tat against their home country.  Carlos even enrolled in school in Miami because he already spoke English, which he learned while spending time in Jamaica.  One day, the schoolmaster learned that Carlos and his two brothers were named Vladimir, Illich (Carlos) and Lenin and told Carlos’ father to change his son’s names. Naturally, the father declined, and the family decided to move back to Venezuela.  

We also discussed my novel, The Sword of David, that you all have already heard much about, and to my great surprise, he agreed with me on my Middle East peace strategy.   By the way, when the interview concluded on the third day, he asked me to join his legal team. I declined.  

More to come, including ultimately, release of the audio, because hearing Carlos’ intonation is much more powerful than simply reading his words. You will not agree with Carlos’ tactics or politics, but nonetheless, you will find his story to be astonishing. 

Finally, I will be appearing at the Miami Book Fair this coming Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.  Room 2106, Building 2- 1st Floor, on the corner of NE 2nd Avenue and 4th Street in Miami.