Los Angeles Times
· collected 2026-09-13 · by Patrick J. McDonnell
He was called ‘MAGA’s Man’ in Latin America.
asserted
He → call → America
Now he’s charged with hiring hitmen to murder his girlfriend
-
Click here to listen to this article -
- Argentine political consultant Fernando Cerimedo helped fuel the rise of right-wing politicians in South and Central America.
asserted
Cerimedo → charge → America
- Cerimedo now sits in a Bolivian maximum security prison, accused of ordering hitmen to murder his pregnant mistress, lawyer and activist Nadia Beller.
asserted
Cerimedo → sit → mistress
- The brazen shooting, captured on security cameras, has taken on the color of gripping telenovela, rattling right-wing movements from Argentina to Honduras as former allies rush to distance themselves.
asserted
allies → capture → themselves
He’s been called the “MAGA man” of Latin America, a brash political provocateur whose social media assaults boosted right-wing campaigns from his native Argentina to Central America.
asserted
assaults → call → America
His career as political consultant and co-founder of an ultra-right online outlet made him a rich man and helped elect Trump-aligned politicians across the region.
asserted
him → make → region
The Economist gave him the “MAGA Man” label, while political commentators gave him another nickname — the “Steve Bannon of Latin America” — a nod to the longtime Trump ally and advisor.
asserted
commentators → give → ally
Now, however, Fernando Cerimedo, 45, sits in a maximum-security prison in Bolivia, accused of masterminding a murder-for-hire plot: The attempted femicide of his pregnant mistress, Nadia Beller, 33, a Bolivian lawyer and activist.
asserted
Cerimedo → sit → mistress
It’s a stunning collapse for a onetime ad man with a dodgy reputation who rose to become the go-to digital campaign guru for Latin America’s ascendant right wing.
asserted
who → ’ → wing
Cerimedo’s signature boasts, exaggerations and peddling of false election-fraud narratives reflected those of his political model, President Trump.
asserted
boasts → reflect → model
Cerimedo also is another example of how right-wing political operatives outside the United States — as recently in Colombia and Germany — have adopted Trumpian tactics and messaging.
asserted
operatives → adopt → tactics
The fall of the “King Midas of the Latin American right,” said Daniel Matamala, a prominent Chilean journalist, stunned “the ecosystem of fake news, bots, trolls and disinformation that has taken this region by storm in recent years.”
asserted
that → say → years
Speaking on his podcast, Matamala added, “The name of Cerimedo looms like a ghost over the summit of the radical right.”
asserted
name → speak → right
The Aug. 17 attack on Beller was a seemingly well-planned ambush that was captured by security cameras, the grainy images widely disseminated on social media.
asserted
that → plan → media
One of two would-be assassins dressed as fast-food deliverymen pulled out a pistol and shot Beller point blank outside a hotel in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.
asserted
One → dress → Cruz
She fell to the ground and, according to her account, feigned death.
uncertain
She → fall → death
The next day, at dawn, Cerimedo was arrested as he was about to board a plane to Buenos Aires.
asserted
he → arrest → Aires
Cerimedo set up the hit, prosecutors charge, in a nefarious attempt at damage control.
asserted
prosecutors → set → control
Beller had threatened to expose his alleged criminal behavior and physically abusive behavior toward her while revealing Cerimedo, a married man with two children, as the father of her unborn child.
asserted
Beller → threaten → child
He has denied any wrongdoing.
asserted
He → deny → wrongdoing
Even before Cerimedo’s arrest, Latin American journalists had begun unmasking Cerimedo as a prodigious purveyor of fake news — about himself.
asserted
journalists → begin → himself
New reports revealed that his frequent boasts about U.S. connections — that he attended Harvard, trained with U.S. Navy SEALs, worked in the Obama White House — were fanciful.
asserted
he → reveal → House
“He certainly exaggerated things,” said Damian Merlo, a Miami-based consultant who worked with Cerimedo on the 2023 campaign of Argentine President Javier Milei, a Trump favorite.
asserted
who → exaggerate → Milei
“I never really got the impression that Cerimedo was ‘MAGA’s man in Latin America.’
asserted
Cerimedo → get → America
The guy could hardly speak English!
uncertain
guy → speak → English
But that’s how he sold himself.
asserted
he → ’ → himself
Many times, the sales pitch worked.
asserted
pitch → work → ?
It was Cerimedo who helped broker then-candidate Milei’s celebrated 2023 interview with Tucker Carlson, at the time a Trump confidant, an appearance that thrust Milei into the international spotlight.
asserted
that → broker → spotlight
Like Milei, Cerimedo seemed to relish any proximity to Trump-land.
asserted
Cerimedo → seem → land
In February, at the inaugural “Hispanic Prosperity Gala” — a right-wing pep rally held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate — Cerimedo was honored as “Hispanic Political Consultant of the Year.’”
asserted
Cerimedo → hold → Year
From the podium, he spoke of Latin America’s “culture war” and the need to ensure that “the left never again returns” to governments that have elected conservative leaders.
asserted
that → speak → leaders
Switching to heavily accented English, Cerimedo gave a shout-out to Brad Parscale, Trump’s former campaign manager, whom Cerimedo thanked for “believing [in] me all the time and giving me your technology.”
asserted
Cerimedo → switch → technology
Parscale declined to comment.
asserted
Parscale → decline → ?
Both Cerimedo and Parscale were involved in last year’s campaign that resulted in the election of Honduran President Nasry Asfura, whom Trump backed publicly.
asserted
Trump → involve → whom
Last year, Cerimedo was a key player in the election of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, the center-right, U.S.-educated son of a former president who transitioned from Marxist firebrand to moderate.
asserted
who → transition → moderate
The ascension of Paz broke almost two decades of leftist rule by the Movement for Socialism party of ex-President Evo Morales.
asserted
ascension → break → Morales
Cerimedo had no official capacity in Paz’s government, but he enjoyed insider status.
asserted
he → have → status
He accompanied Paz in March to Trump’s anti-narco “Shield of the Americas” summit, a confab of mostly conservative leaders at Trump’s Doral resort in south Florida.
asserted
He → accompany → Florida
Among the items found in searches of Cerimedo-linked properties, authorities say, was a business card listing him as Paz’s “chief adviser” — a nonexistent post.
“Mr. Cerimedo never had the authorization to represent ... the presidency, the government or my family,” a deeply discomfited Paz said in Facebook message last month.
asserted
Paz → find → message
How exactly Cerimedo got into politics — and how he became a right-wing rabble-rouser — remains somewhat opaque.
asserted
he → get → rouser
…and 21 more, not listed.
