Restricted Hearing in Miami Reviews Case of Former Pinochet Agent Released by ICE

A restricted hearing took place in Miami for Armando Fernández Larios, a former agent of Augusto Pinochet's political police, who was arrested by U.S. authorities in October 2025 and subsequently released in March. Fernández Larios, who is facing homicide charges in the United States, appeared before Immigration Judge Irene M. Recio in Florida. The session was held behind closed doors, and a new court date has been set for December 10.

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According to the Digital National Security Archive (DNSA), a non-profit organization, court documents show that after being detained, Fernández Larios filed a lawsuit against ICE for illegal detention and 'breach of contract,' where he maintained that the U.S. government violated an agreement reached with him in 1987 by which it committed not to deport him back to Chile.

Fernández Larios was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Fort Myers, Florida, as part of ongoing efforts to deport him for alleged human rights violations. Following his arrest, he filed a lawsuit against ICE, alleging illegal detention and breach of contract. He claimed that the U.S. government violated a 1987 agreement under which he was promised he would not be deported back to Chile.

As a member of the National Directorate of Intelligence (DINA), Pinochet's repressive apparatus, Fernández Larios played a key role in the plot to assassinate former Chilean minister Orlando Letelier. Letelier was killed on September 21, 1976, when a bomb planted in his car detonated in Washington D.C. After reaching an agreement with the United States, Fernández Larios defected and agreed to testify about his involvement in the assassination and the inner workings of the DINA.

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In exchange, the U.S. government committed not to charge him as a co-conspirator in an act of terrorism, to seek a reduction of his sentence, and not to extradite or deport him back to Chile for charges related to the murder of Orlando Letelier.

According to Peter Kornbluh, director of the National Security Archive (DNSA), the U.S. government committed not to charge him as a co-conspirator in an act of terrorism, to seek a reduced sentence, and to refrain from extraditing or deporting him to Chile for charges related to Letelier's murder. However, Kornbluh noted that Fernández Larios was inexplicably released after serving only five months of his sentence, despite facing up to seven years, a rapid release that has remained a mystery.

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However, the investigator stressed, 'When he defected to the United States in 1987 and pleaded guilty as an accomplice to the murder, he was inexplicably released after serving only five months in prison, despite facing a sentence of up to seven years. How and why he got out of jail so quickly has always been a mystery shrouded in shadows.'