Key takeaways
- Leonardo Bertulazzi, a 74-year-old former Red Brigades member, escaped house arrest in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, shortly before his planned extradition to Italy.
- Argentina's Supreme Court approved his extradition in July 2025 to serve a 27-year sentence, after his refugee status was revoked in 2024.
- Argentina has offered a reward of 20 million pesos (about $13,000, according to the Associated Press), and local media reports suggest he may have travelled by truck toward the northeast.
- Italy's government has publicly placed responsibility on Argentine police, while Buenos Aires says a judicial investigation is under way and the file is secret.
A 74-year-old Italian convicted of terrorism-related crimes has escaped house arrest in Buenos Aires, weeks after Argentine courts cleared his path to extradition, setting off a nationwide manhunt and a public exchange of responsibility between Rome and Buenos Aires. Leonardo Bertulazzi, a former member of the Red Brigades, fled on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, according to Al Jazeera, and remained at large as of Thursday, November 12. The case matters because it tests the Italy Argentina extradition relationship at a moment when both governments had publicly committed to his handover.
The Red Brigades were a far-left militant group responsible for kidnappings and killings in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s. Bertulazzi belonged to its Genoa branch, according to the Associated Press.
What happened in the Bertulazzi escape?
According to the Associated Press, Bertulazzi lowered himself from a fifth-floor apartment using a harness and rope. Italian news agency ANSA reported that the apartment is in the San Telmo district and that a video published by the Argentine outlet Infobae shows a figure dropping onto the pavement, rising and running off. The federal police place the escape on Tuesday afternoon, ANSA said.
Authorities did not detect the escape immediately. The AP, citing police officials, reported that he had placed his electronic ankle monitor inside a device containing a thermal blanket, along with grease or animal fat apparently meant to retain moisture. Explosives specialists were sent to examine the device, which had been made to resemble an explosive.
The New York Times, as reproduced by News Beep, reported that the monitor still showed him at the apartment, and that officers who searched found a metal box of wires plugged into an outlet. His lawyer, Rodolfo Yanzon, had argued that his client’s health was too poor to withstand prison in Italy.
Why was Bertulazzi facing extradition from Argentina to Italy?
Italian courts convicted Bertulazzi in the 1980s, in absentia, and the sentence totals 27 years, according to Argentine court records cited by Al Jazeera. Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that the final sentence covers armed-band membership and the 1977 kidnapping of the businessman Pietro Costa. It added that he had been a fugitive since 1980.
Extradition is the formal transfer of a person from one state to another to face trial or serve a sentence. In this case the path was long. Argentine police first arrested him in November 2002, but a judge rejected Italy’s request in 2003 because Italian law did not guarantee a new trial after a conviction in absentia, Al Jazeera reported.
He later obtained refugee status, which the Associated Press and Al Jazeera report was revoked in 2024 under President Javier Milei. He was re-arrested in August 2024, and Argentina’s Supreme Court approved extradition in July 2025 after rejecting a final appeal. The New York Times reported that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had requested the handover.
What is the Italy Argentina dispute over responsibility?
Wanda Ferro, an undersecretary in Italy’s Interior Ministry, said on Tuesday that Argentine police were responsible for guaranteeing he was handed over, according to the AP. Al Jazeera reported that she added she was certain every effort would be made and hoped extradition could follow very quickly if he is recaptured.
Argentina has been more guarded. ANSA reported on November 12 that the Security Ministry issued its first official communique on the escape only that day. It said the judiciary is investigating the circumstances, that the file is under investigative secrecy, and that searches were carried out at locations linked to the case after analysis of seized electronic devices.
The political stakes are visible in earlier statements. When he was re-arrested in 2024, then-Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said, according to the AP, that Argentina under Milei makes criminals pay. The escape therefore undercuts a message Buenos Aires had promoted as evidence of its commitment to extradition.
Where could Bertulazzi be, and what is still unconfirmed?
Authorities have not confirmed his whereabouts. ANSA reported on November 12 that some local media say a truck driver took him toward the northeast, between Corrientes and Entre Rios provinces, with tighter highway inspections and terminal checks reported in Resistencia, Corrientes and Parana. ANSA presented this as a version circulated by local outlets, not an official finding.
Reporting also differs on details. Argentina’s reward is described as 20 million pesos, which ANSA converted to about 11,000 euros and the AP to about $13,000. Al Jazeera noted that authorities have not verified some of the more colorful accounts of the escape. The AP and the Buenos Aires Times differ on when house arrest began, and the Argentine outlet said the Federal Criminal Cassation Court allowed it because of his age.
His defence has framed the case as a health matter. Yanzon told ANSA that Argentine law bars transferring someone whose condition does not permit it, which he said can be grounds to suspend extradition. Italian outlet Il Manifesto reported that his last appeal was lost and a medical visit denied before the escape.
What to watch
- Recapture: any arrest by Argentina’s federal police, particularly in the northeast provinces where local media say checks were reinforced.
- Judicial findings: whether the Argentine investigation, currently under secrecy, identifies helpers or lapses in monitoring of the ankle device.
- Official Italian response: further statements from the Interior Ministry or Prime Minister Meloni’s office, and any formal contact with Buenos Aires.
- Reward and cooperation: whether the 20 million peso reward is claimed, and whether Interpol channels, which his lawyer said were ready to collect him, are reactivated.
- Legal avenues: whether health-based arguments are revived if he is found, and how quickly a court would allow a handover.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Leonardo Bertulazzi?
Leonardo Bertulazzi is a 74-year-old former member of the Genoa branch of Italy's Red Brigades. Italian courts convicted him in absentia, with a combined sentence of 27 years. He was arrested in Argentina in 2002 and again in August 2024, and Argentina approved his extradition in July 2025.
How did Bertulazzi escape house arrest in Argentina?
According to the Associated Press, he lowered himself from a fifth-floor Buenos Aires apartment using a harness and rope on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. Police said he tampered with his ankle monitor, placing it in a device with a thermal blanket and grease, which delayed detection of the escape.
Why was Argentina extraditing him to Italy?
Argentina's Supreme Court approved his extradition in July 2025 after rejecting his final appeal. His refugee status had been revoked in 2024 under President Javier Milei. Italy, whose prime minister Giorgia Meloni requested the handover, wants him to serve a 27-year sentence for terrorism-related crimes.
Sources
- Former Italian Red Brigades member escapes house arrest in Argentina
- Former Italian Red Brigades member escapes house arrest in Argentina while awaiting extradition (Associated Press)
- La fuga di Bertulazzi in un video, messa una taglia da 11mila euro (ANSA)
- Fuga ex Br Bertulazzi, un camionista lo avrebbe portato fino al nordest dell'Argentina (ANSA)
- L'ex Br Leonardo Bertulazzi scappato dai domiciliari a Buenos Aires (Il Fatto Quotidiano)
- How Does a 74-Year-Old in Argentina Escape House Arrest on the Fifth Floor?
- Former Italy Red Brigades member escapes ahead of extradition (Buenos Aires Times)
Top image: Stefano Vigorelli / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
This article was produced by the Intelligence Report Desk. Sources are linked below.
