Overview
- Fernando Cerimedo was detained at Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz on Tuesday, Aug. 18, and handed to Bolivia’s anti-crime unit as a suspect in the shooting of Nadia Beller.
- Security camera footage shows two men dressed as delivery workers approach Beller outside a hotel and shoot her at close range; she was struck three times, taken to hospital and has said she was four weeks pregnant.
- Prosecutors have charged Cerimedo with attempted femicide and opened a second probe into alleged illicit enrichment, and they will ask a judge for 180 days of pretrial detention while investigators collect evidence.
- Beller has publicly accused Cerimedo of targeting her for opposing Decree 5503 and for witnessing corruption and has acknowledged a former romantic relationship with him, while police say they are also considering a possible personal motive.
- Cerimedo’s past work for Argentina’s Javier Milei and links to figures tied to Jair Bolsonaro have turned the case into a regional political flashpoint and raised urgent concerns about threats to critics and freedom of expression in Bolivia