Bolivian police have arrested Fernando Cerimedo, a prominent political consultant to several of Latin America’s right-wing leaders, as a chief suspect in the armed attack on his former partner, lawyer and activist Nadia Beller.

Cerimedo, an Argentine national who has worked on campaigns for Argentina’s President Javier Milei, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz, was detained Tuesday at an airport as he attempted to travel to Argentina.

He was intercepted at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra while attempting to board an Aerolíneas Argentinas flight to Buenos Aires, and was subsequently handed to Bolivia’s FELCC special police unit for questioning.

The attack itself unfolded the night before. Security camera footage showed two men dressed as delivery workers, wearing helmets and blue vests, approach Beller at a hotel in the Canal Isuto area of Santa Cruz after arriving on a stolen motorcycle. One man shot her three times while the other stole her purse and phone before they fled.

Beller was rushed to hospital and remains in serious condition.

Beller has publicly linked the attack to her political opposition and her personal ties to Cerimedo. She was four weeks pregnant and believes she was targeted for opposing a package of unconstitutional laws under Decree 5503 — being prepared by Cerimedo and the government — and for witnessing high-level corruption. The decree introduces sweeping economic reforms, including eliminating state fuel subsidies, that target policies from Bolivia’s former socialist administration.

Speaking from her hospital bed, she confirmed her romantic relationship with Cerimedo and said she decided to speak out because she believes “until I speak directly to the Bolivian people, they are going to finish what they attempted to do. They are going to end up taking my life.”

Santa Cruz Police Commander David Gómez said investigators are pursuing multiple theories, including the possibility the attack stemmed from “some kind of romantic problem” between Beller and Cerimedo — though he stressed Cerimedo’s arrest does not mean he has been found guilty or proven to have participated in the attack.

Cerimedo is a significant figure in the region’s right-wing political infrastructure. He is a prominent political consultant, digital strategist and media entrepreneur, a leading figure behind the right-wing outlet La Derecha Diario, and head of digital marketing firm Numen. He was one of the main architects of Milei’s digital strategy during the 2023 presidential campaign, and has faced scrutiny in Brazil over alleged involvement in digital campaigns linked to jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Beller’s own political trajectory has been notably fluid. Once linked to the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) governments, she is now considered a figure of political influence within Paz’s circle.

She was a 2019 candidate for the MAS party before becoming one of former President Evo Morales’s fiercest critics, and reportedly also worked as a political operative for opposition civic leader Luis Fernando Camacho.

In July, Cerimedo had publicly denied allegations of gender-based violence following an earlier dispute with Beller.