[News] Venezuelan State Prosecutor Danilo Anderson assassinated

[News at freedomarchives.org]

http://www.vheadline.com/printer_news.asp?id=23570
Published: Friday, November 19, 2004
Bylined to: <mailto:editor at vheadline.com>Roy S. Carson

Venezuelan State Prosecutor Danilo Anderson assassinated in cold blood in 
two-bomb explosion in Los Chaguaramos/Santa Monica

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ASSASSINATED: Danilo Anderson

State Political & Security (DISIP) agents and CICPC detectives are seeking 
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 last night could be that of State 
Prosecutor Danilo Anderson.

US NED funds democracy...

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At this time, the indications are that the driver's body is indeed Anderson 
and already government officials are describing the incident as a further 
act of terrorism by radical opposition groups who are determined not to 
accept electoral defeat.

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Danilo Anderson

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 most recently former Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena to give 
deposition on coup-related charges and inquiries into opposition efforts to 
overthrow the democratically-elected government of President Hugo Chavez 
Frias.

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 had threatened to violate diplomatic 
security in efforts 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.

US NED funds democracy...

President Chavez 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 immediately suspended his trip to attend the XIV Heads 
of State Summit taking place in San Jose (Costa Rica). ... it remains 
unclear if President Chavez Frias will go ahead with plans for an extensive 
foreign tour starting Monday to Spain, Libya, Iran and Russia.

The explosions reportedly came around midnight and police officials say the 
explosions may have been caused by bombs detonated by remote control ... 
similar in modus operandi to 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)/Carter Center 
'Friends of Venezuela' negotiations were taking place.

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Andres Izarra

Communications & 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 Union Radio news network just after 2:00 a.m. this morning, 
Interior & Justice Minister Jesse Chacon saidthat the body of the driver 
taken from the wreckage of the bombed yellow Toyota Autana was "almost 
certainly that of Danilo Anderson."

Chacon 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 he is adamant that (the opposition) in the early hours of this morning 
was a terrorist attack .. there is no doubt that it was terrorism.

US NED funds democracy...

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Danilo Anderson

The vehicle belonged to and was used by Prosecutor Danilo Anderson, the 
personal effects that were found in the wreckage of the vehiclela 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 ID .. the body was badly burned, almost totally in a 
ball of fire."

"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."

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Jesse Chacon

Chacon says he strongly repudiates violence in Venezuelan politics and adds 
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 says 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.

Appealing to Venezuelans to remain calm, Chacon 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.

US NED funds democracy...

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AN deputy Cilia Flores

Juan Barreto, the newly-installed Metropolitan Caracas Mayor attended the 
scene of the incident before dawn this 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 Rodriguez.

AN deputies Cilia Flores and Nicolas Maduro have 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."

Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference (CEV) president Monsignor Baltazar 
Porras has totally repudiated Danilo

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Monsignor Baltazar Porras
Anderson's assassination in the early hours of this morning ... he has 
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 ... 
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."

Monsignor Porras says the CEV will be issuing an official statement later 
in the day ... but "the government should not rush to accuse anyone or to 
seek retaliation ... spaces must be opened up for diverse opinions which 
must not be put down ... 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."

US NED funds democracy...

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 
assigned to the 4th Environmental Attorney's Office in Carupano (Sucre) and 
completed a postgraduate course in Environmental & Sustainable Development 
Law at the Cendes Development Studies Center in Caracas.

Just 6 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.


The Freedom Archives
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San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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