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...

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.

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.

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...

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."

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...

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 

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.

Photography: Santiago Padilla