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Bomb kills Venezuela prosecutor, gov't swipes at US
A Venezuelan prosecutor probing a 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez was killed by a car bomb that the government blamed Friday on radical opponents it said were training in the United States. Senior officials said the attack that killed Danilo Anderson late Thursday was carried out by opposition "fascists and terrorists" and they accused the U.S. government of tolerating hard-line Chavez opponents on its territory. "This was clearly a political assassination," Information Minister Andres Izarra said. "We believe the U.S. government must explain how these terrorist groups can be operating in Florida, U.S. territory." The minister said the attack was aimed at halting prosecutions led by Anderson against several hundred opposition politicians, lawyers and ex-military officers accused of supporting Chavez's short-lived ouster in the 2002 coup. The U.S. government condemned the bombing and dismissed any links to those involved in the Caracas attack. A U.S. official, speaking anonymously, denied Washington would abet Chavez opponents living in the United States. "The charge is ridiculous and more of a politically motivated conspiracy theory," he said. Chavez often accuses Washington of blindly supporting opponents who claim to be defending Venezuela's democracy against dictatorship. He says some are U.S.-backed "coup-mongers" bent on toppling or killing him. U.S. officials have repeatedly rejected his charges. Izarra cited U.S. and Venezuelan media reports of anti-Chavez radicals training near Miami alongside Cuban exiles to carry out attacks against Venezuela and Communist Cuba. Thursday's killing revived fears of instability in the world's No. 5 oil exporter, which until recently had been shaken by violent confrontation over Chavez's presidency. Venezuela is a key supplier of oil to the United States. Authorities said a remote-controlled blast destroyed Anderson's yellow jeep as he drove through a Caracas suburb. Initial tests showed an explosive had been placed near the driver's seat and his body was badly burned. Investigators found Anderson's two handguns and three cell phones strewn around the wreckage. Officials said the prosecutor had received threats and had recently been attacked in a shopping mall. Political Vendetta At a wake ceremony for Anderson, Chavez was mobbed by supporters who gathered outside the Attorney General's office chanting "Justice, justice." "No one will force us into violence, there will be peace in Venezuela," the president told reporters. Anderson was vilified by opposition supporters as part of a political vendetta by an increasingly authoritarian president who controls key institutions such as the courts. Some opposition leaders said they feared a government crackdown. Political tensions had calmed in Venezuela after Chavez won an Aug. 15 recall referendum and consolidated his political control in Oct. 31 regional elections that left opponents scrambling to redefine their role. Chavez, a former army officer elected in 1998 vowing to fight poverty and
corruption, suspended a trip to Costa Rica Friday to attend an Ibero-American
summit. But he planned to leave Sunday for a tour to Spain, Libya, Iran and
Russia. |
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