Ilich Ramírez Sánchez — who adopts the code name of " Carlos " early in the film — is a grim and elusive Venezuelan Marxist terrorist whose life is tracked as he executes dozens of assassination plots , abductions , and bombings across Europe and the Middle East in the cause of Palestinian liberation . For two decades , he is one of the world 's most wanted terrorists . The film begins in Paris in 1973 , where the young Ramírez Sánchez is endeavoring to prove himself as a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP ) fighter , and ends with his capture in Sudan , in 1994 . In between , Carlos and his fellow terrorists wreak havoc on the Left Bank in Paris , storm OPEC 's headquarters in Vienna , and carry out other devastating acts of politically motivated violence
storm OPEC 's headquarters in Vienna
OPEC siege
Carlos (miniseries)