Last week, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum accused La Derecha Diario of spreading fake news to interfere in Mexico’s elections after a failed murder for hire plot exposed one actor with ties to the outlet. Sheinbaum highlighted the outlet’s links to far-right groups in Mexico by pointing to La Derecha Diario Director, Javier Negre, saying that Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego had “hired him” to expand in Mexico and join a political “cultural battle.” Salinas Pliego is the owner of right-wing TV Azteca and other media outlets,
Meanwhile, La Derecha Diario’s co-founder, Fernando Cerimedo, a former adviser to Argentine President Javier Milei and current adviser to various political leaders in the region, faces charges of attempted femicide filed by his former partner, Nadia Beller, following his alleged hiring of hitmen to kill her. Beller was shot three times at close range, but survived. According to Beller, “[Cerimedo] was going to get involved in Mexico’s elections” until he was arrested.
During his arrest in Bolivia, Cerimedo was found to be operating a bot farm from one of his properties. More than half a million Euros and Bolivianos were also found. In addition to charges of attempted femicide, he is now also facing charges of money laundering and illicit enrichment. Cerimedo, an Argentine political strategist, has close ties to Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz and runs digital strategies for right-wing leaders across the region. This is just the latest blow to Paz’s unpopular government.
Cerimodo’s arrest has many leaders in an uproar, and Sheinbaum isn’t the only person speaking up. Chilean Congressman Juan Santana is demanding an investigation into potential payments to Cerimedo’s company and its involvement in Chilean politics. Former Bolivian President Evo Morales also spoke out, calling him “an agent of the empire” while echoing Beller’s assertion that Cerimedo was a CIA operative. Morales has also demanded that the Bolivian State Attorney’s Office conduct a transparent investigation into Cerimedo.
La Derecha Diario was also implicated in Jair Bolsonaro’s attempted coup in Brazil and has since been banned in the country. In a 2022 interview, Cerimedo displayed his arrogance while proclaiming that he wanted to be the “Magneto of the right” and detailed how his misinformation media campaigns work. Those campaigns created lasting damage, not unlike what we’ve seen in the United States and what other countries around the world are experiencing.
While Negre denies Sheinbaum’s allegations and claims the Cerimedo had no part in the outlet’s founding or its operations, an article on El Diario Derecho’s own website refers to him multiple times as the outlet’s owner and a partner. Coincidentally, Cerimedo divested from the company just days before his arrest. He was not expected to step away from his role as a political advisor and digital strategist for various leaders and candidates.
Beller’s allegations are supported not only by much of what we already know about La Diaria Derecha, but also by recent investigations that expose misinformation networks being created to help install right-wing, exploitative, corporate-friendly leaders across the region. While Beller is set on blowing this operation open, many others are still active. Some of those operate behind the scenes, while others, like Trump and his incessant need to brag, operate much more openly than the U.S. government typically does.
For the uninitiated, that incompetence has lifted the veil on U.S. foreign policy in Latin America.
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