Several weeks ago, a video went viral in which Nadia Beller, speaking from a health clinic, accused her ex-partner, the Argentine Fernando Cerimedo, of ordering her murder in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

After undergoing surgery to remove two bullets from her body, Beller, who is pregnant, accused Cerimedo of being the mastermind behind the assassination attempt, but also warned that it was highly likely the justice system would be unable to act appropriately due to what she described as the close relationship between her ex-partner and Bolivia’s right-wing president, Rodrigo Paz.

In addition, Beller accused Cerimedo of several acts of corruption linked to the Paz administration and the Bolivian president’s family, and posted photos on social media of wads of Bolivian currency allegedly linked to Cerimedo.

A few hours later, on August 18, the Prosecutor’s Office arrested Cerimedo on charges of attempted femicide. Authorities arrested him at Viru Viru Airport as he prepared to leave the country for Argentina.

Investigators found messages on his cell phone that were reportedly sent from his device and could implicate him in the Beller case. In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office announced that Cerimedo will be investigated for alleged illicit enrichment.

For her part, Cerimedo’s attorney, Margarita Arce, said that the attack was planned by Beller herself – that is, it was a self-inflicted attack – to destabilize the Paz administration.

Who is Fernando Cerimedo?

Following his arrest, news of Cerimedo’s apprehension began to appear in various media outlets. Although many people did not attach much importance to it, it turns out that, according to several journalistic investigations, Cerimedo may have been involved in several presidential elections in which the new Latin American right-wing movements won the presidencies of various countries.

A few hours after his capture, and in the face of Beller’s direct accusations, Bolivia’s presidential spokesperson, José Luis Gálvez, was forced – under pressure from journalists – to tell the press that Cerimedo had been an advisor and collaborator on Paz’s presidential campaign but did not currently hold any official position. In response, Cerimedo stated that he and Paz are merely “friends.”

But Paz is not the only leader who knows the detainee personally. Cerimedo is one of the most influential political consultants on the Latin American right and far right. He was one of the strategists for the presidential campaign of his compatriot Javier Milei, and some media outlets claim he has ties to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. In addition, his roles in Chile – in support of the current far-right president, José Antonio Kast – as well as his activities in Honduras have been highlighted.

Cerimedo’s influence stems from his role as the founder of the right-wing media outlet La Derecha Diario, which has a clear conservative and right-wing libertarian slant. Cerimedo is also the director of the political marketing agency Numen, which was founded in Argentina.

Cerimedo’s key to power: troll farms

But one of the main reasons Cerimedo is so powerful is likely his control over several “troll farms” – places from which fake accounts “like” certain news stories or posts, share content on their profiles, attack individuals, and can even influence and alter online trends, thereby exerting a certain degree of control over the narrative circulating on social media.

That’s exactly what Cerimedo did following Bolsonaro’s defeat in Brazil, when he claimed that Lula da Silva, the winner of the presidential election, had stolen the election. Cerimedo’s troll farms quickly sprang into action and began to “smear” Lula’s victory. A few months later, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in an attempt to prevent what they called “a fraudulent presidential inauguration” – that of Lula. Some time later, Jair Bolsonaro was arrested for participating in an attempted coup, according to Brazilian authorities. Cerimedo was investigated, but no charges were filed against him.

But Cerimedo’s relationship with the Bolsonaros did not end there. A few weeks ago, the political consultant appeared online alongside Eduardo Bolsonaro – Jair’s son and Flávio’s brother (who will seek to win the election against Lula) – once again questioning the legitimacy of Lula’s past victory.

Cerimedo has never hidden the fact that he controls thousands of trolls to influence social media algorithms: “We run negative campaigns,” Cerimedo told the newspaper La Nación during the 2023 Argentine political campaign, stating that he shares damaging information about rival candidates.

That campaign – which was, by the way, very successful – paved the way for him to enter Central America, where he served as one of the key advisors to the right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura, who, following a dirty election campaign and a controversial election, became president of Honduras.

In 2025, Cerimedo personally advised Paz in Bolivia, and, according to presidential spokesperson Gálvez, he continues to be a collaborator with the executive branch: “After the campaign ended, he continued to collaborate specifically with the president’s administration, (although) he has not held a specific position within the government.”

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales said that Cerimedo is clearly an “agent of the empire,” while Mexico’s current president, the progressive Claudia Sheinbaum, warned of the danger posed by people like Cerimedo, who seek to taint politics with lies and defamation.

“Elections have been won this way in Latin America, through the spread of fake news that is very difficult to counter because they have a lot of money and sophisticated operational networks,” Sheinbaum told the press.

Read more: Hondurasgate: leaked audio links Asfura, Hernández, Trump, Milei, Netanyahu in anti-left

And while Cerimedo’s political activities have not been kept secret – thanks to a combination of cynicism and apathetic common sense – Beller’s accusations regarding alleged acts of corruption by her ex-partner and several powerful figures (including some from the governments of Argentina and Bolivia) could expose more than just political campaigns and troll farms.

Beller accuses Cerimedo of participating in operations related to fuel, gold, and even clandestine financial networks. For his part, President Milei has said that the accusation comes from Lula, Morales, and “Castro-Chavism,” although he also tried to distance himself from his former advisor: “He is someone who is not part of our circle and has no connection to us whatsoever. We severed ties in 2023.”

For now, it remains to be seen how far the investigations will go. Cerimedo will remain in custody while his trial continues. Meanwhile, various media outlets continue to investigate the connections of this powerful political consultant and his ties to a range of actors – presidents, companies, media outlets, etc. – who will be following his trial very closely.

Furthermore, the Cerimedo case has demonstrated, in the clearest possible way, a new way of doing politics in the region, one that does not depend on the power of ideas but rather on personal connections and new technologies of manipulation. These have been actively used by a radical right-wing movement in Latin America that has reaped great triumphs in recent years, regardless of the ethical cost or in the name of a “truth” that, on social media, can be as fragile as a straw snapping.

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