TWO YEARS AND LITTLE RESOLUTION IN DANILO ANDERSON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 003670

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2026
TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE
SUBJECT: TWO YEARS AND LITTLE RESOLUTION IN DANILO ANDERSON
CASE

REF: A. 05 CARACAS 02645


B. CARACAS 00191

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Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT DOWNES FOR 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary. After two years of searching for the
intellectual authors of prosecutor Danilo Anderson's November
2004 murder, Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez' December 14
announcement of the so-called conclusive findings indicated
the BRV is no closer to discovering the masterminds.
Rodriguez announced December 15 that the suspects, outspoken
journalist Patricia Poleo, Pedro Lander, and Johan Pena, all
currently residing in Miami, cannot be charged in abstentia.
Meanwhile, he has recommended the investigations of
businessman Nelson Mezerhane, Retired General Eufenio Anez
Nunez, and Fernando Moreno Palmar be suspended pending the
discovery of more evidence in the future. Son of Venezuelan
anti-Castro militant Salvador Romani was the only suspect
cleared of charges. Ironically, Mezerhane's pilot, Jesus
Zurilla, has been connected to the material authors of the
crime, but has never been investigated, although his ties are
being used as evidence against his boss. The AG tried to
blame the lack of conclusive findings on others, including
Colombia, the United States, and the Venezuelan legal system,
but cavils only served to further highlight his office's
botched handling of the case. These findings do not rule
out, however, that the BRV could trot out this case in the
future to distract and intimidate the opposition. End
Summary.

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Background
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2. (SBU) Danilo Anderson was a high-profile prosecutor
tapped to handle politically-charged cases, such as the
shooting deaths during the short-lived April 2002 coup and
bringing treason charges against the signers of the so-called
Carmona Decree that summarily dissolved the Chavez government
at that time. Anderson was accused by many of extorting
money from individuals in return for not filing charges,
including groundless accusations, against them. Anderson was
killed in November 2004 by an explosive device planted in his
car. His death is believed to be linked to his alleged
extortion attempts, but the BRV claims his death was part of
a larger plot to destabilize the government.


3. (C) Otoniel Guevara, Rolando Guevara, and Juan Bautista
Guevara were convicted of the actual bombing in December
2005, but the BRV is still searching for the "intellectual
authors" of the crime (Ref A). The AG's office has sought,
unsuccessfully, to implicate a variety of BRV enemies,
including prominent opposition figures, the FBI, CIA, and
Colombian paramilitaries. The cases against the actual
suspected intellectual authors are based on flimsy evidence
and are more of a tool to distract and intimidate the
opposition than a serious investigation. In January 2006,
for example, it was revealed that BRV star witness Giovanni
Jose Vasquez De Armas was previously arrested for swindling
and fabrication (Ref B). Local media further discredited him
by revealing Colombian records that showed he was in jail at
the time he claimed to have witnessed a meeting to plan the
murder.


4. (C) AG Isaias Rodriguez initially responded by obtaining
a gag order against the media, but in August 2006 was forced
to admit Vasquez de Armas had lied. Armas is currently
laying low, reportedly afraid of government retribution after
he admitted to a journalist that the BRV paid him to
fabricate his testimony. The prosecution's newest star
witness, Rafael Garcia, is a former Colombian Department of
Administrative Security (DAS) official incarcerated for
corruption and aiding and abetting narcotics traffickers and
paramlilitaries. The AG claimed during his December 14 press
conference that Garcia's initial statements support most of
Vasquez' key accusations.

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"We dunno who dunnit, but it's not our fault"
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5. (SBU) Rodriguez' December 14 announcement of the findings
of the two-year investigation came just short of the deadline
to conclude the case and failed to shed light on who was
responsible. The AG complained frequently during the press

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conference that the legal time limit was insufficient for
such a complicated case and he blamed other countries,
including Panama and Colombia, for not answering requests for
information in time. While not focusing extensively on the
United States, he also blamed it for not assisting a
Venezuelan terrorist investigation because it did not detain,
extradite, or deport three of the suspects. Without this
help, Rodriguez said, it would be difficult to objectively
determine and prosecute those responsible for the crime.
Nevertheless, he revealed some initial, "conclusive" findings.

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The Possibly Guilty but Unable to Be Accused
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6. (SBU) Rodriguez said there was enough evidence to
continue the investigation against outspoken journalist and
BRV-critic Patricia Poleo as an intellectual author, but he
could not formally accuse her as she is in Miami and
Venezuelan law prohibits accusing people in abstentia.
Nevertheless, Rodriguez said he would still pursue a warrant
for her arrest. (Note: A Catch-22 moment: any warrant
requires formal accusation.) The AG said the investigation
into two other material authors, Johan Pena and Pedro Lander
(also in Miami) are on hold as well. Pena and Lander are
former DISIP agents who, according to press reports, operated
a private security firm in Caracas with Bautista Guevara.
Rodriguez noted the AG's efforts to get the three deported,
including meetings with the Ambassador, Legatt, and the DEA
Country Attache. While acknowledging Post's help in securing
a meeting for a Venezuelan prosecutor with DHS officials in
Miami, Rodriguez said nothing concrete ever came of the
discussion.

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The Archived
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7. (C) The AG said there was not enough evidence to charge
businessman Nelson Mezerhane, his driver Fernando Jesus
Moreno Palmar, or Retired General Eufenio Anez Nunez, though
he lacked enough evidence to exonerate them. The AG thus
said these investigations would be "archived pending further
evidence." Mezerhane, a well-known businessman who counts
noted opposition news station Globovision among his holdings,
was arrested along with Anez Nunez in November 2005 for his
alleged role in the crime and held for several weeks before
being provisionally released. Mezerhane has told us
privately that there were attempts to extort payments from
him to make his Danilo Anderson problems go away. Anez Nunez
participated in the October 2002 Plaza Francia sit-in of
military officers opposed to the Chavez administration, one
of the cases Anderson was handling at the time of his death.
Former DAS official Rafael Garcia,s testimony appears to be
key in determining their guilt or innocence.


8. (SBU) Note: The Venezuelan Penal Code states that the
AG's office has two years to investigate a crime before it
must decide whether to charge or clear the suspects. Only
the presiding judge can decide, upon review of the AG's case,
whether a case can be archived. At the December 14 press
conference, Rodriguez railed against this limitation and its
seeming contradiction with other constitutional provisions
governing the AG's authority several times. He then
announced that he was going to exceed his authority by
continuing to keep the cases open.

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The Exonerated and Ignored
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9. (SBU) The Attorney General exonerated only one of the
accused in this case. Salvador Romani, the son of an
anti-Castro militant and a participant in the siege of the
Cuban Embassy, was cleared of all involvement. At the same
time, the Attorney General overlooked a potential suspect.
One of the reasons businessman Mezerhane is not being
exonerated is because prosecutors have phone calls and text
messages linking his pilot, Jesus Zurilla, to the alleged
assassination plot. Zurilla, however, has not been
investigated or charged. When a reporter asked about this
anomaly, Rodriguez didn't really answer, but said more
suspects could be named in the future.

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Comment
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10. (C) Opposition media outlets have used the Danilo
Anderson case to show up the incompetence of the AG's office
and its politicization of the case. Clearly frustrated with
the media's unflattering portrayal of him, Rodriguez tried to
use the press conference to defend himself by pointing the
finger at others and at a law he helped to revise, and by
lashing out at his critics saying things such as the AG's
office "was not like the television; we don't make things
up." Nevertheless, his continuous complaints and
unimpressive findings did little to improve his image or
bring closure to Venezuela's most notorious murder. As the
BRV has made repeated use of this case to distract or
intimidate the opposition, we doubt that we have heard the
last of it.

BROWNFIELD