Mario Eduardo Firmenich (born 24 January 1948) is a former

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

urban guerrilla An urban guerrilla is someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare or domestic terrorism in an urban environment. Theory and history The urban guerrilla phenomenon is essentially one of industrialised society, resting both ...

leader and politician. He was one of the commanders of

Montoneros Montoneros ( es, link=no, Movimiento Peronista Montonero-MPM) was an Argentine left-wing Peronist guerrilla organization, active throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The name is an allusion to the 19th-century cavalry militias called Montoner ...

group and the most significant figure in the Argentine guerrillas in the 70s. In 1987, He was sentenced to life in prison for killing a businessman and attempting to murder multiple politicians in Argentina, but was

pardoned A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

by president

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

in 1990. He has been accused of many murders and kidnappings carried out by Montoneros, like the kidnapping of the Born brothers, owners of

Bunge and Born Bunge & Born was a multinational corporation based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose diverse interests included food processing and international trade in grains and oilseeds. It is now known as Bunge Limited. History Bunge & Born was founded in ...

, and the killing of former president

Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Silveti (May 21, 1903 – June 1, 1970) was an Argentine Army general. He was a major figure behind the '' Revolución Libertadora'', the military coup against Juan Perón in 1955. He became dictator of Argentina, serving ...

. He confessed to the killing of Aramburu with his partner Norma Arrostito. He was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

into a family of German origins and attended the

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires (''National School of Buenos Aires'') is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, affiliated to the University of Buenos Aires. In the tradition of the European ''gymnasium'' it provides a free education ...

, later pursuing an agronomy degree at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...

Faculty of Agronomy. He was arrested for the first time in February 1974 for his actions with Montoneros, but released soon due to legal technicalities. During the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...

he lived in exile in different countries like Italy, Cuba, and Mexico. With the return of democracy in Argentina in 1984 under president

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

, he was captured in Brazil and extradited to Argentina. After his release, he studied economy at UBA and graduated with honours, but due his controversial figure classmates and a student political body (''

Franja Morada Franja Morada ("Purple Strip") is the student wing of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), a major political party in Argentina. Founded in 1967, it has led the Argentine University Federation (FUA) since the end of the military dictatorship in 1983. Th ...

'') petitioned that the honours be withdrawn. He currently lives in Spain, where he is a professor of History and a researcher at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

(where he earned a degree) and at

Rovira i Virgili University University of Rovira i Virgili ( ca, Universitat Rovira i Virgili; , es, Universidad Rovira y Virgili; URV) is located in the Catalan cities of Tarragona and Reus, Spain. Its name is in honour of Antoni Rovira i Virgili. The University of Ro ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firmenich, Mario Argentine revolutionaries 1948 births Living people