Alain Mesili

Alain Mesili (born 24 February 1949 in Paris) is a climber and mountain guide, photographer and political activist based in La Paz, Bolivia.[1][2]

He was a political activist in France during the 1968 student riots. In 1969 he left the country, disgusted by the French Communist Party's failures, for Argentina.[2] Over the period of a year Mesili explored Patagonia, crossing the Southern Patagonian Ice Field; he may have been the first person to travel through modern-day Los Glaciares National Park. He further explored the Cordillera Darwin and crossed into Chile. He later moved to La Paz, where he worked as a mountain guide.[2]

In 1991 Mesili was accused of being driver for the extreme left Commission Nestor Paz Zamora (CPNZ) during an attack on the US Marine barracks in La Paz in October 1990. He fled, eventually to his native France. In May 1994, he was arrested at Miami airport and held without trial for 9 months. He was then extradited to Bolivia in February 1995, in exchange for a Bolivian colonel accused of drug trafficking by the US authorities.[3] He was released in 1997 without facing trial.[2][4][5] By 1999, he had resumed his career as a mountain guide.[1]

References
  1. "Curriculum Vitae og Alain Mesili: Guide of High Mountain in Bolivia (sic)". Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  2. Alain Mesili, a living leyand (sic) Archived 21 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine a biography by Yossi Brain
  3. "Alain Mesili, deux ans d'oubli en Bolivie. Accusé d'avoir aidé des terroristes, l'andiniste français attend en prison d'être jugé". Libération (in French). 11 March 1997. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  4. "Alain Mesili reste en prison en Bolivie". Libération (in French). 11 April 1997. Retrieved 21 July 2009. L'absence de preuves devrait toutefois jouer en faveur du Français et permettre son acquittement lors du procès, qui se tiendra en juin prochain, si l'on s'en tient aux recommandations du Parquet bolivien (Trans: The lack of evidence should play in favor of the Frenchman and allow his acquittal at trial, to be held next June, if we stick to the recommendations of the prosecution of Bolivia.)
  5. andes-mesili.com Expérience en Alpinisme et Andinisme Archived 29 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine (in French)


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