Danilo Anderson was investigating those responsible for the 2002 coup d'etat, which saw democratically-elected president Hugo Chávez held hostage for two days while a business-military junta illegally seized power. The coup was reversed only when government supporters rose up and the army rank-and-file rebelled against their high command.

Last week John McDonnell, MP for Hayes & Harlington, condemned the murder as "a further attempt to destabilise the country by those ... who refuse to respect the will of the Venezuelan people". For the full text of his Early Day Motion (number 127, titled "Hands Off Venezuela Campaign") and a list of MPs who've signed it, please see  http://edm.ais.co.uk/weblink/html/motion.html/ref=127.

Credible evidence of CIA involvement in the 2002 coup has recently emerged. A memo, titled "Venezuela: Conditions Ripening for Coup Attempt", was written by the CIA just five days before the coup. Also the Spanish Foreign Minister has just confirmed that previous Aznar government actually instructed their ambassador in Caracas to support the coup.

Anderson was trained to "follow the money", and had traced millions of dollars from the US government to coup-plotters. The Venezuelan elite are angry that Chávez has been spending state oil profits on health care, education, housing and other social projects. They accuse him of populism and "buying votes" with these projects.

Charley Allan from Hands Off Venezuela pointed out, "In the recent referendum and regional elections, the Venezuelan people clearly showed they still overwhelmingly supported Chávez. However, there are obviously some who refuse to accept this democratic decision and will use violence and terror tactics, like this car-bombing, to try and bully the nation into submission.

"We deplore this crude attempt at intimidation and also the continued funding by the US government of the most rabid, reactionary, right-wing elements in Venezuela, which Danilo Anderson was investigating. He was a brave and honest man, and committed to the Venezuelan people's right to democratic self-determination. We wish to send a solidarity message to Venezuela that they are not alone and that they are an inspiration to all of us fighting to make the world a safer, fairer place."