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Venezuelan State Political and Security (DISIP) agents and CICPC detectives are working to determine if the victim of an jeep which was blown to smithereens by two bombs on Avenida Las Ciencies de Los Chaguaramos in the Santa Monica/Bello Monte area of Caracas at around midnight on November 18 could be that of State Prosecutor Danilo Anderson.

Although the body of a man found in the wreckage was burned beyond recognition and DNA or dental records will be needed to make a positive identification, the indications are that the body is indeed that of Anderson. Government officials are describing the incident as a further act of terrorism by radical opposition groups who are determined not to accept electoral defeat.

Police say the vehicle belonged to Danilo Anderson, was National Prosecutor (4th section) and had just begun subpoenaing the 400 signers of an April 2002 Decree issued by US-backed dictator-for-a-day Pedro Carmona Estanga and called former Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Alfredo Peña to give a deposition on coup-related charges.

At the time of his assassination, Danilo Anderrson was working closely with National Prosecutor (6th Section) Luisa Ortega who is handling the case against National Endowment for Democracy (NED)-funded SUMATE leaders as well as a defamation case against TV presenter Napoleon Bravo amongst other cases.

Anderson had been instrumental in the prosecutions of Henrique Capriles Radonski for his role in April 2002 riots outside the Cuban Embassy in Caracas, during which Capriles Radonski threatened to violate diplomatic security in an effort to lynch government ministers who had taken refuge there.

The case against Sumate directors related to NED funding was initiated by Luisa Ortega, who was forcibly kidnapped but escaped by throwing herself out of the kidnappers' car --- she suffered severe lacerations and has visible scars as a result of that attack.

President Hugo Chávez Frias has asked Venezuela's wildly opposition-faithful print & broadcast media to resist speculating and to await the results of an official investigation.

The president suspended his trip to attend the Latin American summit in San Jose, Costa Rica. As this story was written it remained unclear if Chávez would go ahead with plans for a trip to Spain, Libya, Iran and Russia.

The explosions reportedly came around midnight and police officials said they may have been caused by bombs detonated by remote control. A similar modus operandi was used in bombings which took place in February last year at the Spanish Embassy, Colombian consulate and the Teleport building in Caracas where Organization of American States (OAS) and Carter Center "Friends of Venezuel"' negotiations were taking place.

Communications and Information (MinCI) Minister Andres Izarra told reporters at the scene "there were two explosions --- circumstances point to Danilo Anderson being the victim of this attack."

Speaking to the Union Radio news network about two hours after the attack, Interior & Justice Minister Jesse Chacón said that the body of the driver taken from the wreckage of the bombed yellow Toyota Autana was "almost certainly that of Danilo Anderson."

Chacón went on to say that every resource necessary will be made available to discover the perpetrators in the shortest possible lapse of time and that there is no doubt that it was terrorism.

"The vehicle belonged to and was used by prosecutor Danilo Anderson, the personal effects that were found in the wreckage of the vehicle and statements made by those closest to him, allow us to believe that the corpse is that of the prosecutor even if there remains a series of forensic tests to determine his identity," Chacón said.

"We in Venezuela cannot tolerate any form of terrorism.... We are proceeding with investigations as quickly as possible so that we can make known to the Venezuelan public who were the culprits to this dastardly deed. We will use every resource available to the government to identify the attackers and bring them to justice."

Chacón said he strongly repudiates violence in Venezuelan politics and added that "lamentably there are those in this country who will stoop to using such methods but it is very far removed from the wider Venezuelan mindset." He said that authorities will not be dissuaded from investigating the recipients of NED funding to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Venezuela. "I have appointed Caracas Superior Prosecutor Leoncio Guerra to continue the investigations, together with 30th and 8th National Prosecutors," he said.

Appealing to Venezuelans to remain calm, Chacón said that the double explosion apparently came from bombs concealed in the chassis of Anderson's vehicle. "Those who prepared this terrorist attack had a lot of time in which to do it --- Anderson did have bodyguards but he had dismissed them to attend postgraduate study courses at the Bolivarian University and we presume that it was on the basis of this routine that the killers planned his assassination."

Juan Barreto, the newly-installed Metropolitan Caracas mayor, went to the scene of the incident before dawn the next morning, in the company of National Assembly (AN) deputies Nicolas Maduro, Dario Vivas and Iris Varela, as well as the president of the National Elections Council (CNE) Jorge Rodríguez.

AN deputies Cilia Flores and Nicolas Maduro called on all Venezuelans to repudiate this kind of terrorist action: "It is in no way part of the culture or sentiment of the Venezuelan people." Valera says that a month ago she was informed by security services that a series of terrorist attacks was on the cards "Certain plans were discovered linking opposition political figures and (Colombian) AUC paramilitaries from Tibu and Cucuta," she said.

Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference (CEV) president Monsignior Baltazar Porras has repudiated Danilo Anderson's assassination and called for calm and rejects any thought of retaliation against those in the political opposition who are suspected of orchestrating the assassination.

"This tragedy is lamentable and should be repudiate from every aspect," the Monsignior said. "Violence is not the way to a solution of the problems in Venezuelan society.... As a church we repudiate in the most absolute way possible everything to do with this kind of manifestation."

Monsignior Porras went on to say that "the government should not rush to accuse anyone or to seek retaliation," adding that "spaces must be opened up for diverse opinions which must not be put down" and "the state has an executive function and should try to synchronize procedures inasmuch as harmony augurs for social well-being, not the route of resentment."

Danilo Anderson had just celebrated his 38th birthday on October 29 and was seen as having a promising career in the legal profession after graduating as a lawyer at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) in 1995. He began working at the Finance Ministry (Hacienda) immediately thereafter, rising to the rank of inspector general.

In 2000 he became an auxiliary prosecutor at the Attorney General's office and was assigned to the 4th Environmental Attorney's Office in Carupano (Sucre) and completed a postgraduate course in Environmental and Sustainable Development Law at the Cendes Development Studies Center in Caracas.

Just six weeks ago Anderson --- whose favorite hobby was mountaineering in the Gran Sabana and the Andes, close to his home town of La Vega (Merida) --- was set upon by two thugs in the Sambil shopping mall in Caracas. They are now awaiting trial.



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Assassination unsettles Venezuela
Panama News Briefs

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