World news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-20 · by Tiago Rogero South America correspondent
Fernando Cerimedo, a 42-year-old senior adviser to far-right Latin American leaders, has been arrested for allegedly masterminding an attempted murder plot against his girlfriend Nadia Beller. According to police, Cerimedo was detained in Bolivia on Tuesday morning after landing from a flight reportedly bound for Argentina. Surveillance footage shows two men opening fire on Beller outside a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on Monday night, and she has told police that she believes the attack was orchestrated by Cerimedo. The incident is the latest scandal involving Cerimedo, who has been accused of involvement in attempted coups and other crimes in Brazil and Honduras.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Fernando Cerimedo, a 42-year-old businessman and political consultant, was arrested at Santa Cruz de la Sierra airport in Bolivia on Tuesday morning. He is accused of masterminding an attempted murder plot against his girlfriend, Nadia Beller, a Bolivian lawyer who had been receiving anonymous messages promising to hand over evidence against former President Evo Morales. Cerimedo has worked as an adviser to several far-right leaders in Latin America, including Rodrigo Paz Pereira of Bolivia and Javier Milei of Argentina, whom he helped secure a US presidential endorsement for. The attempted murder was caught on surveillance footage showing two men dressed as delivery riders firing at Beller on Monday.
Written for “Adviser to Far Right Leaders” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
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Leaning score +0.85 for article 1503 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-08-21
A senior adviser to many of Latin America’s new wave of far-right leaders has been arrested for allegedly masterminding the attempted murder of his girlfriend.
uncertain
adviser → arrest → girlfriend
The businessman and political consultant Fernando Cerimedo, 42, had been working as an adviser to the Bolivian president, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, and was one of the main strategists behind Javier Milei’s campaign in Argentina’s 2023 presidential election.
asserted
businessman → work → election
He has previously been described as Maga’s man in Latin America – a reference to Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement – and is credited with helping secure the US president’s endorsement of the rightwing Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who won Honduras’s presidential election in December.
asserted
who → describe → December
On Tuesday morning, Cerimedo landed in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in Bolivia, and was arrested before boarding another flight reportedly bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina.
uncertain
Cerimedo → land → Aires
According to police, he was detained on suspicion of ordering a gun attack on Nadia Beller, a Bolivian lawyer who local media reported had been in a relationship with Cerimedo – who is married – since last year.
uncertain
who → accord → year
Surveillance footage showed two men dressed as delivery riders and wearing helmets open fire on Beller on Monday night outside a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
asserted
men → show → Sierra
She survived and was taken to hospital.
asserted
She → survive → hospital
Beller told police she had been lured to the hotel after receiving anonymous messages promising to hand over evidence of alleged crimes committed by Bolivia’s leftwing former president Evo Morales, who is subject to two outstanding arrest warrants and remains sheltered in a coca-growing region.
asserted
who → tell → region
Beller said she believed the attack had been a trap orchestrated by Cerimedo.
asserted
attack → say → Cerimedo
The local police commander, Col David Gómez, told local media that investigators were working on the hypothesis that Beller and Cerimedo had been in a romantic relationship and had had “a personal dispute” in the days before the attack.
asserted
Beller → tell → attack
Cerimedo’s lawyer, Ernesto Giraldes, said his client had not been not trying to flee to Argentina and had travelled to Santa Cruz de la Sierra specifically to visit Beller in hospital, and denied he was behind the attack.
asserted
he → say → attack
A presidential spokesperson, José Luis Gálvez, said Cerimedo had acted as Paz Pereira’s “personal consultant” but did not hold a government post.
asserted
Cerimedo → say → post
The Bolivian president expressed “solidarity” with Beller and posted on X that his administration would offer “zero interference” in the investigation.
asserted
administration → express → investigation
Cerimedo had a prominent role in Milei’s campaign strategy and had boasted that he had been the one to suggest the self-styled libertarian take a chainsaw to campaign rallies, but he has never held a post in the Argentinian government.
asserted
he → have → government
In Brazil, Cerimedo was indicted by federal police over his alleged involvement in the attempted coup led by the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
asserted
Cerimedo → indict → president
In 2022, five days after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the election and Bolsonaro refused to concede and plotted ways to remain in power, Cerimedo held a live stream titled “Brazil Was Stolen”, in which he presented an anonymous dossier containing false claims about the vote.
uncertain
he → win → vote
Brazil’s federal police later concluded it had been a premeditated operation coordinated with Brazilian military officers and Bolsonaro aides, who had provided Cerimedo with the report.
asserted
who → conclude → report
Prosecutors, however, declined to bring charges against him, saying investigators had failed to produce evidence to show Cerimedo knew the report contained fabricated information.
asserted
report → decline → information
