Bolivia Arrests 'MAGA's Man in LatAm' for Attempted Assassination
Bolivian Vice President Edmand Lara said the attack "threatens life, democracy, and freedom of expression."
Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political operative who has worked on right-wing campaigns across Latin America, was arrested in Bolivia this week in connection with the attempted murder of a woman with whom he reportedly had a romantic relationship.
Cerimedo was arrested Tuesday morning at Viru Viru Airport after an attack on Bolivian lawyer and activist Nadia Beller.
Video footage circulating online shows two people dressed as delivery workers approaching Beller outside of a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and shooting her at close range. The 33-year-old was taken to a hospital and survived.
Cerimedo has connections to Argentina's President Javier Milei, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz.
As Drop Site News pointed out, he is business partners with President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Brad Parscale, and The Economist has called him "MAGA's man in LatAm" for "forging close ties" to the US leader's right-wing movement.
The 42-year-old operative is "credited with helping secure the US president's endorsement of the right-wing Nasry 'Tito' Asfura, who won Honduras' presidential election in December," The Guardian noted Wednesday.
The newspaper also reported that "Cerimedo's lawyer, Ernesto Giraldes, said his client had not been... trying to flee to Argentina and had traveled to Santa Cruz de la Sierra specifically to visit Beller in hospital, and denied he was behind the attack."
According to Al Jazeera, "Beller, who was four weeks pregnant, believes she was targeted for her opposition to a pack of unconstitutional laws under Decree 5503, which were being prepared by Cerimedo and the government, and for witnessing high-level corruption."
As the outlet detailed:
Decree 5503 introduces radical economic reforms, such as eliminating state fuel subsidies, that target policies put in place under Bolivia's former socialist government.
Beller is also understood to have had a romantic relationship with Cerimedo. She admitted to her relationship with him in a video appearance from her hospital bed, and highlighted Cerimedo's significant political influence.
She said she decided to speak out as she believes that "until I speak directly to the Bolivian people, they are going to finish what they attempted to do. They are going to end up taking my life."
The arrest is not the first time Cerimedo has attracted negative attention in Bolivia. Reuters reported that "in May, the vice presidency accused him of interfering in the country's internal affairs over a social media post, an allegation he denied," and last month, "Cerimedo said on X that he was being wrongfully accused on the internet of domestic violence."
Bolivian Vice President Edmand Lara said that the attack on Beller "threatens life, democracy, and freedom of expression," while the president, Paz, wrote in Spanish on X that "acts of violence are reaching unprecedented extremes, with repercussions at both national and international levels. As president and on behalf of the government, we are deeply dismayed by these events and are calling for cooperation at all levels—both national and international—to address this situation."
"I wish to express my solidarity with Ms. Nadia Beller regarding these events," he said. "I have instructed the relevant authorities to conduct a thorough, transparent, and exhaustive investigation until the facts are fully clarified. Ms. Beller must be provided with all necessary security and guarantees, as must the investigation itself, which must be conducted with absolute transparency and independence. The truth must come above all else so that justice prevails and is served—without exceptions and regardless of the circumstances."
