Adviser to far-right Latin American leaders arrested over alleged plot to kill girlfriend
Political consultant Fernando Cerimedo has been arrested in Bolivia on suspicion of orchestrating an attack on his girlfriend, lawyer Nadia Beller. Cerimedo has advised several far-right leaders across Latin America, including Argentina's Javier Milei and Bolivia's President Rodrigo Paz Pereira.
Bolivian police arrested political consultant Fernando Cerimedo, 42, at the airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on Tuesday, as he was about to board a flight reportedly headed for Buenos Aires. He is suspected of ordering an attack on his girlfriend, lawyer Nadia Beller.
Cerimedo has recently served as an adviser to Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira and was one of the key strategists behind Javier Milei's 2023 presidential campaign in Argentina. He has been described as Maga's man in Latin America, a reference to Donald Trump's movement, and is credited with helping secure Trump's endorsement of far-right Honduran politician Nasry Asfura, who won that country's presidential election in December.
On Monday night, two men dressed as delivery riders opened fire on Beller outside a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, an attack captured on surveillance footage. She survived and was taken to hospital. Police said she had gone to the hotel after receiving anonymous messages promising evidence of alleged crimes by Bolivia's former leftwing president Evo Morales, who faces two outstanding arrest warrants.
Beller told police she believes the attack was a trap set up by Cerimedo, with whom she had been in a relationship since last year despite him being married. A local police commander said investigators were examining the possibility of a personal dispute between the two in the days before the shooting.
Cerimedo's lawyer denied his client had been trying to flee to Argentina, saying he had travelled to Santa Cruz de la Sierra specifically to visit Beller in hospital, and denied any involvement in the attack. A spokesperson for the Bolivian president confirmed Cerimedo had acted as Paz Pereira's personal consultant without holding an official government post. The president expressed solidarity with Beller and pledged non-interference in the investigation.
Cerimedo has also been linked to a Brazilian federal police investigation into an alleged attempt by allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro to overturn the results of the 2022 election, though prosecutors ultimately did not press charges against him.
