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El Ciudadano

Original article: Por dos votos no avanzó comisión para investigar vínculos de Cerimedo con entorno de Kast: Montalva apunta a ausentes de su sector y anuncia que insistirá

By a narrow margin of two votes, the proposal from Deputy José Montalva (Ind.-PPD) to establish a Special Investigative Commission examining the links between far-right political operator Fernando Cerimedo and the environment of President José Antonio Kast did not progress this Tuesday.

The initiative aims to clarify the use of bots, fake accounts, and misinformation campaigns by the Argentine consultant to influence events in Chile, as well as to determine potential funding and coordination and to establish whether the State had the tools to detect these practices.

Around 10:00 AM during the session opening in the Chamber of Deputies, the present parliamentarians voted on the initiative, which gathered 60 votes in favor, 41 against, and 2 abstentions, failing to achieve the required quorum to advance. Nonetheless, the deputy.

Following Cerimedo’s detention in Bolivia on August 18, where he currently faces four charges including attempted femicide against his ex-partner Nadia Beller, money laundering, domestic violence, and alleged cover-ups related to drug trafficking, alarms have been raised regarding his influence in Chile and the use of fake accounts and trolls to manipulate algorithms and shape public opinion.

The consultant himself stated that he worked for Sebastián Sichel’s candidacy and later supported Franco Parisi’s presidential campaign. However, the most controversial aspect of his involvement has been in the campaign against a new Constitution.

During a raid on one of Cerimedo’s residences in La Paz, an equivalent of 50,000 dollars in Bolivian currency, dollars, and euros was found, along with a «mini bot farm» used to generate thousands of social media messages through accounts artificially created by the consultant, similar to the 50,000 he admitted to operating in Argentina during an interview with Infobae in May 2023, in addition to others utilized in Chile.

Through his company Numen Spa, founded in Chile by lawyer Enrique José García Arancibia, he was contracted in 2020 by the so-called «Casa Común», a command for the Rejection, where he collaborated with members of Kast’s administration, including the chief advisors from La Moneda’s Second Floor, Alejandro Irarrázaval and the head of the Communications Secretariat (Secom), Felipe Costabal.

In this command, he worked on campaigns supporting the Rejection option, for both the initial plebiscite and the subsequent one.

Additionally, some voices link the consultant to the use of bots that may have affected then UDI candidate Evelyn Matthei during her presidential campaign.

Questions regarding his influence in Chile have also surfaced, specifically concerning his ties to José Antonio Kast, his circle, and even his presidential campaign in 2025. His ex-partner, lawyer Nadia Beller, confirmed the «closeness» of the far-right Argentine to the president, indicating that after his election, he expressed his intention to attend the handover ceremony.

In the midst of the controversy, President Kast confirmed to Cooperativa that he knows Cerimedo but stated that he does not work with him. «In none of my campaigns have I worked with this gentleman. The government does not work, nor does it have consultations with this gentleman,» the president affirmed.

In light of these developments, a series of legal and fiscal actions have been initiated by opposition parliamentarians, including Deputy Luis Santana (PS), who contacted Servel and filed a complaint with the Public Ministry regarding potential informational crimes to investigate the funding of bot networks associated with the Argentine consultant.

Deputy Montalva warned that “bot farms, fake news, deep fakes, and this ecosystem of digital manipulation can poison our democratic processes,” leading him to propose creating the investigative commission to clarify “how state agencies acted, if they identified those behind these operations and their potential funding, what went wrong in their detection, and if we have the necessary tools to protect our democracy.”

Montalva Will Insist and Reintroduce the Initiative

By Monday afternoon, the initiative had 62 supporting signatures; however, Montalva clarified that to ensure its passage to the Chamber, it required approval by 62 favorable votes, equivalent to two-fifths of the deputies.

In statements following the vote, the legislator expressed disappointment that the proposal did not advance by just two votes, pointing to the absences from his sector.

“People from our sector did not show up to vote, and that is why this commission was lost,” he told La Tercera.

“There are people in our sector who need to learn that it is not enough just to talk and say things, but we also need to act, and the main thing to do is to show up for work, to arrive in the morning,” he stated, referring to those who were absent during the vote.

Despite the outcome, the deputy indicated he would resubmit the request to the Chamber to create the investigative commission.

“This time, we will try to schedule it for later, “We will aim for it to be a day in the afternoon so that even our people can come to vote,” he added.

La entrada Commission to Investigate Cerimedo’s Ties to Kast Fails to Advance by Just Two Votes: Montalva Points to Absentees in His Sector and Plans to Insist se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.