Milei adviser detained in Bolivia for attempted femicide left controversial trail in Chile
Fernando Cerimedo, in preventive detention in Santa Cruz since 18 August, is under investigation for attempted femicide and illicit enrichment. His role in the 2020 Chilean plebiscite comes back under scrutiny.
Cerimedo, strategist of the new right, imprisoned in Bolivia as his links with Chile resurface
Fernando Cerimedo, an Argentine political operative linked to Javier Milei and the new Latin American right, has been held in preventive detention since 18 August in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. According to elpais.com, the Bolivian Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating him for attempted femicide against his ex-partner, lawyer Nadia Beller, who survived a shooting attack carried out by two hitmen and reported him, from hospital, for corruption.
Upon searching Cerimedo's residence, prosecutors found more than 40,000 dollars in cash, which led to a parallel investigation into illicit enrichment. Prosecutor Carlos Torrez reported that a "mini bot farm" was also found: a set of networked devices designed to comment, share and generate automated actions on social media in a coordinated manner.
The request to Servel and the Neuroc account
The discovery of this digital infrastructure set off alarm bells in Chilean politics. Socialist deputy Juan Santana asked the Electoral Service (Servel) on Monday to clarify whether any company linked to Cerimedo had participated in recent campaigns in Chile. Santana recalled that in July 2025 then-presidential candidate Evelyn Matthei, of the traditional right, "reported that she was being attacked with bots and announced a lawsuit against the Republican Party", founded by former deputy José Antonio Kast. Following those attacks, a report identified several suspicious accounts, including one called Neuroc, which according to the parliamentarian "disappeared from X" in the same days as the Argentine's detention in Bolivia.
The Numen survey and the 2020 plebiscite
Cerimedo's track record in Chile dates back at least to September 2020, when El Mercurio published the results of a poll conducted by Numen, a company of which he was chief executive. The survey, released on 6 September that year—almost two months before the plebiscite on 25 October—indicated that only 42.3 per cent of Chileans supported drafting a new constitution to replace the 1980 charter, enacted during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. All available opinion polls at the time averaged support close to 70 per cent. The referendum result confirmed this: the "Apruebo" (Approve) option obtained 78.28 per cent of the vote.
Chile's Association of Market and Opinion Research Investigators (AIM) quickly questioned the survey's methodology. Sociologist Juan Pardo, partner and director of Feedback, described the scale of the distortion in his Sunday column in EL PAÍS: "The study placed the Apruebo at around 42 per cent, the Rechazo at 34.4 per cent and even projected a victory for the latter option with 53.8 per cent. Seven weeks later, Apruebo obtained 78.27 per cent. It was not a minor error, but a difference of around 36 percentage points". Pardo added that the survey stated it had obtained over 18,000 responses through paid advertisements on social media and Google, and that "that volume operated as an argument of authority".
Cerimedo himself acknowledged in an interview broadcast on 15 September 2020 on Radio Duna that the survey was commissioned to him, although without specifying names: "I understand it was a group of Chilean businessmen who are contributing to the Rechazo campaign", he stated.
How the misinformation circulated
A report published in July 2023 by LaBot media outlet in Ciper Chile titled the investigation The Argentine who spreads misinformation in Chile and his link to one of the Constitution's arbiters. The text revealed that the Numen survey "was used by the Rechazo House to try to change the electoral mood, as by that point the country had completely accepted the Apruebo's victory". One of the leaders of that organisation was former deputy Gonzalo de la Carrera, who wrote on his Twitter account: "According to the latest poll, 53 per cent would vote for rechazo and 47 per cent apruebo. But since those for Rechazo think they are going to lose, only 22 per cent would go to vote. Meanwhile 53 per cent of those for Apruebo will go to vote. If we reverse that false feeling that Apruebo is winning, Rechazo could prevail!".
Furthermore, the report noted that on social media a video based on the Numen survey circulated insisting that, if all supporters of Rechazo went to vote, the option could prevail.
A network that crosses borders
Pardo described Cerimedo's detention as a fact that "shakes South American politics because the stakes cross borders". The sociologist documented his role in Milei's 2023 presidential campaign, as well as his presence as informal adviser to Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz. In Brazil, he noted, his relationship with Eduardo Bolsonaro is documented, as well as "his role in spreading falsehoods about electronic ballot boxes following Jair Bolsonaro's defeat in 2022". Regarding Chile, Pardo was precise: "There is not yet sufficient public evidence to affirm that he worked for any presidential candidate in Chile. In this soap opera, distinguishing between documented facts and characters introduced by rumours is part of the argument".
Cerimedo never held an official position in any of the governments to which he was linked. He is the founder of the website La Derecha Diario and a recurring figure in circles of the continental right, with documented links to Milei, the Bolsonaros and now to the Bolivian political sphere. The investigation against him in Santa Cruz de la Sierra remains open for three charges: attempted femicide, illicit enrichment and operation of an automated network for manipulating social media.
Source: Google News CL — Crime