MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei links Lula to the case of the Argentine former adviser detained in Bolivia

The remarks come during the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries since the return to democracy

Argentine President Javier Milei has attributed the criminal case against his former adviser Fernando Cerimedo, detained in Bolivia over an attempted femicide, to a regional plot in which he included Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former Bolivian president Evo Morales and Argentine lawmaker Marcela Pagano. He offered no evidence to support the claim.

“Let's not rule out that behind this is the whole rabble,” he said on Saturday in an interview with Radio Mitre, before listing those names and referring to “castrochavismo,” a term used in the region to describe governments seen as aligned with Cuba and Venezuela. He said it was “a band of castrochavista criminals operating in the region.” In previous days he had accused Lula of running an “anti-Argentine campaign” and of “interfering in electoral processes across the region.”

The remarks come during the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries since the return to democracy. Brasília recalled its ambassador in Buenos Aires for consultations on July 26 and on August 4 downgraded relations to chargé d'affaires level, after Milei took part in a campaign event for Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro at which he referred to Lula in terms the Brazilian government deemed offensive.

In the same interview, Milei distanced himself from Cerimedo. “He is someone who is not part of our movement, who has no link of any kind with us, and with whom we stopped having contact in 2023,” he said. Casa Rosada visitor records examined by the newspaper La Nación show at least thirteen entries by the consultant to the seat of government between December 2023 and June 5, 2024. The logs record who enters and who authorises access, but do not establish meetings with the president. Then interior minister Lisandro Catalán appears as the official who most often approved the visits.

Cerimedo co-founded the digital outlet La Derecha Diario, took part in the communications strategy of Milei's 2023 campaign and advised the campaign of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz. A judge in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on Friday ordered 180 days of pre-trial detention on a charge of attempted femicide. He denies the accusations and has not been convicted. His business partner in the outlet, Spaniard Javier Negre, told the newspaper Clarín that Cerimedo had agreed to give up his stake before the arrest.

Last week Milei reposted messages on social media questioning the severity of the injuries suffered by Nadia Beller, Cerimedo's former partner. The medical report from the clinic where she was treated records an open, comminuted fracture of the right humerus with metal fragments, requiring emergency surgery.