I have been trying to answer that question in the last few days in trying to understand the case of the murdered prosecutor. There are three different pictures of him which are discordant. First there is the Danilo Anderson of the interview in Tal Cual in May of this year., a struggling middle class prosecutor with an activist past, defending legality above all. Then, there is the loyal member of Chávez MVR that the Government tried to sell us during his funeral and burial. Finally, there is the communist revolutionary who had lots of enemies within Chavez’ MVR, as described by his close friend City councilman Carlos Herrera.
In the Tal Cual interview Anderson claimed to be a loyal civil servant who just followed the law. He did not renounce his activist past as a “hooded” activist at Central University. Who considered an aberration to fire people for signing against Chávez. Who shopped in middle class supermarkets and not in the Government sponsored ones. Who loved shopping center Sambil, used Tommy Hilfiger and who liked to wear brand names and live well. Who did not want to be poor again. Curiously, he said his major extravagance was his Toyota, but a different one from the one in which he was killed. Eerily enough, in that interview he quoted:” As for you death, and your amorphous destructive arm, don’t believe you can scare me”.
Councilman Herrera, who was Anderson’s best friend, gives a different picture. He calls Anderson a communist revolutionary who went after Chavistas and opposition alike. Who was being pressured by the Vice-President to drop some names from his list. Who had his won small arsenal in his car, carrying two guns, a machine gun and a grenade. Who only cared about Justice.
The Government on the other hand projected the image of Anderson s a loyal member of Chavze MVR, which he denied. As a martyr, loyal only to the revolution, despite the fact that he went after many of its leaders. As a great collaborator, despite the fact that he was a loner.
Finally, there is the clear impression that Anderson was extremely loyal to Attorney general Prosecutor Isaias Rodriguez. He was assigned the cases and he went after them with all he had. In contrast to the other prosecutors used politically he paid little attention to detail, manipulating the system and the evidence, charging people for crimes that are not even penalized in the penal code in Venezuela. Following orders in detail in important cases and small cases, such as the stolen car in which an opposition figure was traveling earlier this year. He was omnipresent in political cases. He enjoyed the limelight, giving too many interviews for a prosecutor who should work with discretion.
I guess we will never know which was the true Anderson, but the last paragraph is the one closest to my perception of him.

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