New Orleans I hardly know which old saw to retrieve here? Is it a case of pointing out, as our mothers used to tell us, that we’re judged “by the company we keep” or is a situation where the “fruit doesn’t roll far from the tree.” Either would probably work in a wild situation that says a lot about how the whole MAGA far right smooth operators, fixers, and their like become so confident of their impunity that they think they can get away with murder. Literally!
This is a story about a Latin American political consultant to a number of ultra conservative leaders in several countries named Fernando Cerimedo. This youngish guy is a big-time player in Honduras, Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina. Some called him MAGA’s man in Latin America after he was able to pull the strings to get Trump to endorse the rightwing conservative, Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who won election in Honduras at the end of 2025. He had been heavily involved in the 2023 election of the libertarian, Milei, in Argentina, and reportedly claimed to have suggested his chainsaw antic. Earlier, in 2022, he had come to attention in Bolsonaro’s race against Lula de Silva, the eventual winner in the Brazilian election. He was indicted for playing a role in the aftermath when Bolsonaro’s followers attacked the capitol in an attempt to get the election overturned with the usual set of accusations that are typical for election losers. More recently, he has been acting as an advisor to the new rightwing president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz Pereira.
On the conservative side of the street, this would be a gold card resume for any political consultant, but now there’s a problem. He’s been arrested in Bolivia for “allegedly plotting to kill his girlfriend.” The woman, Nadia Beller, a Bolivian lawyer, had admitted the relationship to the married Cerimedo over the last year. She had been lured to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to meet a potential whistleblower who supposedly had information on crimes committed by members of the former leftist and indigenous leader and president, Evo Morales’ party. Instead, reportedly, two motorcycle riders took aim at her in front of her hotel there, wounding her, though not mortally. She pointed the finger at Cerimedo, who was arrested at the airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra before boarding a plane to Buenos Aires.
At this point, I have no idea what evidence the Bolivian police have that he was the mastermind behind this hit, but given his political clout in the country, it’s reasonable to assume it must be significant. Perhaps the best proof of that is how quickly Bolivia’s president is distancing himself from his political consultant.
A presidential spokesperson, José Luis Gálvez, said Cerimedo had acted as Paz Pereira’s “personal consultant” but did not hold a government post. The Bolivian president expressed “solidarity” with Beller and posted on X that his administration would offer “zero interference” in the investigation.
In most of the world, we would say that Cerimdo just got thrown under the bus. For my part, all I can say about this bizarre, made for Netflix story is that MAGA is and MAGA does, and Latin America is paying the price just as we are in the rest of the world.