Alain Mesili (born 24 February 1949 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) is a climber and

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

, photographer and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

based in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

, Bolivia.Alain Mesili, a living leyand (sic)
a biography by Yossi Brain He was a political activist in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the 1968 student riots. In 1969 he left the country, disgusted by the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

's failures, for Argentina. Over the period of a year Mesili explored

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, crossing the

Southern Patagonian Ice Field The Southern Patagonian Ice Field (), located at the Southern Patagonic Andes between Chile and Argentina, is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field. It is the bigger of two remnant parts of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, which c ...

; he may have been the first person to travel through modern-day

Los Glaciares National Park Los Glaciares National Park () is a federal protected area in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The park covers an area of , making it the largest national park in the country. Established on 11 May 1937, it hosts a representative sample of Mage ...

. He further explored the

Cordillera Darwin The Cordillera Darwin is an extensive mountain range mantled by an ice field that is located in Chile. Description Cordillera Darwin is located in the southwestern portion of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, entirely within the Chilean territor ...

and crossed into

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. He later moved to La Paz, where he worked as a mountain guide. In 1991 Mesili was accused of being driver for the extreme left Commission Nestor Paz Zamora (CPNZ) during an attack on the

US Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

barracks in

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. He was released in 1997 without facing trial.andes-mesili.com Expérience en Alpinisme et Andinisme
(in French) By 1999, he had resumed his career as a mountain guide.

References

French mountain climbers 1949 births Living people French people imprisoned abroad French emigrants Immigrants to Bolivia People extradited from the United States French people imprisoned in the United States People extradited to Bolivia {{Climbing-bio-stub