Fernando Cerimedo, 42, a businessman and political advisor, was arrested in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, on Tuesday morning (Aug 18) immediately after landing, before he could catch a connecting flight reportedly bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina. Police said he is suspected of orchestrating a gun attack on lawyer Nadia Beller, whom local media reported had a romantic relationship with the married Cerimedo since last year.
According to surveillance footage, two men disguised as delivery workers, wearing helmets, fired at Beller on Monday evening (Aug 17) outside a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Beller survived and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Beller told police she was lured to the hotel after receiving anonymous messages promising evidence of alleged crimes by former leftist Bolivian president Evo Morales, who faces two arrest warrants and is hiding in a coca-growing region. Beller believes the attack was a trap staged by Cerimedo.
Local police commander Colonel David Gómez said investigators are working on the hypothesis that Beller and Cerimedo had a romantic relationship and that there was a “personal dispute” in the days before the attack.
Cerimedo's lawyer, Ernesto Giraldes, insisted his client had no intention of fleeing to Argentina, but rather came to Santa Cruz de la Sierra to visit Beller at the hospital, and denied allegations he was behind the attack.
Bolivian presidential spokesperson José Luis Gálvez said Cerimedo had been a “personal advisor” to President Rodrigo Paz Pereira but held no government position. President Paz Pereira expressed solidarity with Beller and pledged the administration would “not interfere” in the investigation.
Cerimedo played a prominent role in the campaign of Argentine President Javier Milei, even boasting he came up with the idea of Milei bringing a chainsaw to rallies. However, he never held an official position in the Argentine government.
Previously, Cerimedo was described as an “extension of MAGA” (Make America Great Again) in Latin America, and is believed to have helped secure support from U.S. President Donald Trump for the campaign of Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who won the Honduran presidential election in December 2025.
Additionally, Cerimedo was indicted by Brazil's federal police over alleged involvement in a coup plot led by former president Jair Bolsonaro. In 2022, after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the election, Cerimedo livestreamed a program titled “Brazil Was Stolen,” presenting an anonymous document with false claims about the vote. Brazil's federal police later concluded it was a coordinated campaign with military officers and Bolsonaro aides, but prosecutors declined to charge him, citing insufficient evidence that Cerimedo knew the document contained false information.
