Roberto Quintanilla

Lieutenant-Colonel Roberto Quintanilla Pereira (1928–1 April 1971) was a Bolivian intelligence officer. He was head of intelligence of the interior ministry of President René Barrientos, and in this role, he played a part in the 1967 capture and execution of Che Guevara. In 1969, Quintanilla was responsible for the torture and death of National Liberation Army of Bolivia (ELN) leader Guido "Inti" Peredo Leigue. Appointed as consul-general in Hamburg, he was allegedly assassinated by Monika Ertl in the consulate.

Biography

Quintanilla was born in 1928. He rose to become head of intelligence in the interior ministry under Bolivian president René Barrientos. Nicknamed "Toto", he was linked to the American Central Intelligence Agency and studied at the US-run School of the Americas in Panama.

Quintanilla played a role in the operation leading to the 1967 capture and execution of Marxist guerrilla Che Guevara.

Assassination

Quintanilla was later appointed Bolivia's consul-general in Hamburg, Germany. By April 1, 1971, he had completed his posting but remained at the consulate at 125 Heilwigstrasse to hand over the position to his successor, before returning to Bolivia. Quintanilla admitted Ertl to his office and had sent his translator to fetch some tourist brochures when Ertl drew a .38 Colt Cobra revolver and shot him three times in the chest. After a brief altercation with Quintanilla's wife Ertl escaped; Quintanilla died shortly afterwards. Former Nazi and collaborator with the Bolivian dictatorship Klaus Barbie arranged the repatriation of Quintanilla's remains and the handing of his cremated ashes to his wife. Barbie was a former comrade of Ertl's father Hans Ertl and had visited her in Bolivia.