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Original article: “También en Chile manipularon las elecciones mediante la mentira”: Petro vincula a Cerimedo con “tecnofascismo” electoral de la ultraderecha

«They also manipulated the elections in Chile through lies,» denounced former Colombian president Gustavo Petro, as he connected political operator Fernando Cerimedo to the electoral «technofascism» of the far right.

The recent arrest of Argentine consultant Cerimedo in Bolivia, facing charges of attempted femicide against his ex-partner Nadia Beller, has reignited controversy regarding his influence in Latin America’s electoral processes, where he reportedly employed artificial accounts, bots, and trolls to support far-right candidates.

During a raid on a residence in an upscale area of La Paz, reportedly occupied by Cerimedo, authorities discovered the equivalent of $50,000 in bolivianos, dollars, and euros, as well as a bot farm used to generate thousands of messages on social media via artificially created accounts, similar to the 50,000 he admitted operated in Argentina during a May 2023 interview with Infobae, along with others used in Chile.

In light of these developments, the former Colombian leader stated in a message shared on social media X that the elections in Chile were also manipulated «through lies,» directly pointing to Javier Negre, a «friend of Abelardo de la Espriella,» and Fernando Cerimedo, «the femicide.»

Cerimedo: The Operator Behind the Rejection

Cerimedo is well-known as an advisor to far-right figures such as Javier Milei in Argentina, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, and Nasry Asfura in Honduras. His connection to Chile particularly revolves around the role he played in the campaign against a new Constitution and the use of artificial accounts and trolls to manipulate algorithms, position content, and influence public opinion in our country.

«Last year, I was traveling extensively because I was working on the campaign against the proposal for the new Constitution in Chile,» he stated in May 2023 during the aforementioned interview with Infobae.

Cerimedo and his firm Numen first came to light in Chile on September 6, 2020, when the newspaper El Mercurio published a cover story featuring a poll from his company that contradicted all survey results regarding the constitutional plebiscite: «Poll indicates narrowing differences between Approval and Rejection.»

Numen reported 42.3% for Approval, while other polls exceeded 70%. The firm claimed it conducted over 18,000 online surveys, a staggering number for the Chilean market, and the projection of the poll was completely inaccurate as the Approval won with 78%.

When consulted by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) for the investigation «Digital Mercenaries,» Cerimedo referred to the episode as «a sampling error. Serious, but an error nonetheless.»

Later, his operations involving bots, trolls, and media manipulation focused on the 2022 exit plebiscite regarding the draft of the new Constitution created by the Constitutional Convention.

One of the more emblematic projects was «Constitutional Facilitators,» a website and brochures that used official graphics from the Convention to disseminate false information, such as the claim that the new Constitution meant «the end of home ownership.»

Following the plebiscite result, Cerimedo celebrated the victory of the «Rejection» in the streets of Santiago, as documented in a video by Mdz titled «The Crucial Role of an Argentine in the Rejection.»

Cerimedo is a founder and shareholder of La Derecha Diario, a key outlet in libertarian communication, with portals in Argentina, Mexico, the United States, Israel, Uruguay, and Ecuador.

Co-owner of this outlet is journalist and far-right Spanish figure Javier Negre, who, as Petro noted, maintains a close relationship with Aberlardo de la Espriella, having participated in his campaign team and even attended his inauguration on August 17 in Cali.

At the end of December 2025, Negre celebrated on social media, alongside Cerimedo, «a year of electoral victories and brutal growth of La Derecha Diario,» referring to how the dissemination of content through this outlet played a role in the electoral outcomes that resulted in victories for far-right candidates Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, Daniel Nopboa in Chile, Javier Milei in Argentina, Nasry Asfura in Honduras, and José Antonio Kast in Chile.

«You know that Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Honduras, and Chile have been conquered by the right, and the outlet’s role has been fundamental,» stated the communicator and political operator.

However, following Cerimedo’s arrest in Bolivia for the attack against his ex-partner, Negre moved to distance himself and indicated that the Argentine consultant is now dissociated from La Derecha Diario.

«Fernando, since last week, reached a private agreement for total disassociation from La Derecha Diario and from myself,» he affirmed in statements reported by Página/12.

«I asked him to please step away from the media outlet, as he had no direct influence in management, nor in the execution, nor in leadership roles,» he stressed amidst the controversy.

Petro: «Elections in Chile, Honduras, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia Were Manipulated»

In his social media message, Gustavo Petro referenced leaked audio of conversations via WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram, which uncovered a political and corruption interference operation in Honduras, involving the participation of President Nasry Asfura, Congress leader Tomás Zambrano, electoral advisor Cosette López-Osorio, Vice President María Antonieta Mejía, and former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was pardoned by Donald Trump after being sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking. This revelation was the result of investigation by Diario Red and Hondurasgate, which exposed the attempt to ensure Hernández’s return to the presidency, with support from Trump and backing from sectors tied to Israel.

The scheme revealed a political and economic coordination intention aimed at eliminating internal resistances, conditioning institutions, and reorganizing control of the Honduran state.

«The recording concerning the pardoned drug trafficker, former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, and about Netanyahu’s plan, backed by the White House, is out in the open,» the former Colombian leader affirmed.

In his message, the progressive leader denounced that the elections in Chile, Honduras, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia were manipulated by technofascism and noted that in the case of Colombia, «fraudulent counting software was used to deceitfully win elections with the same private company that conducted elections in Honduras.»

La entrada Petro Links Electoral Manipulation in Chile to Politician Cerimedo and Highlights Technofascism of the Far Right se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.