ICE Detained Aging Assassin. He Says He Can’t Be Deported.

By the Editorial Team · Thursday, July 16, 2026

Armando Fernandez Larios, involved in the 1976 assassination of Chilean dissident Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C., was detained by U.S. authorities in 2025 but released after challenging his deportation due to prior agreements and health issues. His case highlights the ongoing tensions between Cold War-era intelligence collaborations and contemporary efforts to hold individuals accountable for human rights violations.

In 1976, Armando Fernandez Larios entered the United States to assist in planning the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean ambassador and critic of Chile’s military dictator, Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Fernandez gathered intelligence on Letelier’s movements, vehicle, and residence in Washington, D.C., then handed the information to a Chilean intelligence agent before returning to Chile. Less than two weeks later, a car bomb exploded near Letelier’s car, killing him and his American colleague Ronni Karpen Moffitt.

Fernandez resurfaced in the U.S. legal system more than a decade later after returning to the country in 1987 and partially confessing his involvement. He was sentenced to between 27 and 84 months in prison but served only five months following intervention from senior State Department officials. During his cooperation, Fernandez implicated Chilean intelligence chief Manuel Contreras and suggested that General Pinochet ordered the assassination.

The bombing of Letelier and Moffitt marked a shift in U.S. perceptions of Pinochet’s regime, which had been supported by American policymakers during the Cold War to counter communist influence in Chile. Although the U.S. government obtained some testimony related to Pinochet’s role, it did not secure definitive evidence to hold the dictator legally responsible.

Fernandez was also linked to other human rights violations during Pinochet’s rule. In the years following the 1973 Chilean coup, he joined the so-called "Caravan of Death," a death squad that targeted socialist leaders across Chile. In a 2003 civil trial in Florida, Fernandez was found liable for extrajudicial killings, torture, and crimes against humanity related to the death squad’s actions, resulting in a $4 million judgment against him, which remains unpaid.

Despite his criminal record and the gravity of his offenses, Fernandez was allowed to remain in the United States for decades. In 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him in Miami, designating him as among the "worst of the worst" for his participation in homicide and terrorism. However, Fernandez challenged his deportation, filing a lawsuit asserting that the U.S. government had committed not to deport him as part of prior agreements stemming from his 1987 conviction.

The government did not formally respond to Fernandez’s legal challenge by the deadline. Instead, he was released from detention after more than four months, reportedly due to his age and medical condition, including dementia, factors not explicitly mentioned in court rulings. Fernandez, now 76, faces a further immigration hearing scheduled for August 5, 2026.

His case underscores the complexities of U.S. foreign policy legacies from the Cold War era, shifting alliances, and the ongoing challenges of addressing human rights abuses linked to covert operations and political violence. While some officials previously regarded him as an intelligence asset, current stances prioritize accountability for his role in internationally condemned acts of terrorism and extrajudicial killings.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.