Kast’s Digital Strategist Sanctioned by Servel; Agency Billed Over $2 Billion for 2025 Election

Original article: Estratega digital de Kast fue sancionado por Servel y su agencia facturó más de $2 mil millones en la elección de 2025

Andrés Joannon Grezel, the key digital services provider for presidential candidate José Antonio Kast, has been sanctioned by the Electoral Service (Servel) for disseminating campaign propaganda outside the legal timeframe in the 2022 plebiscite. His agency, Blue Digital, billed $2.192 billion during the 2025 presidential and parliamentary elections, according to agency records. This information comes in light of a letter sent by opposition lawmakers following the arrest in Bolivia of Fernando Cerimedo, known as the “King of Bots.”

The deputies requested from Servel details regarding whether Cerimedo or his agency Numen Spa, created by his partner Enrique José García Arancibia, had provided campaign services in Chile, and whether there were complaints or sanctions due to automated accounts or false content. In letter No. 1.739 dated September 23, 2026, Servel responded that Cerimedo was not listed as a provider, but Numen billed $25 million in 2021 for three constituent campaigns. Additionally, Servel recorded 24 people sanctioned between 2021 and 2025 for violating the legal campaign formats and deadlines, though it clarified it lacks the authority to verify the truthfulness of digital content.

Servel Sanctions and Misleading Information on the New Constitution Proposal

Among those sanctioned is Andrés Joannon Grezel, who also played a major role in the communication strategy for the “Rechazo” campaign. CIPER reviewed the sanctioned messages and found misleading propaganda in content generated by Joannon. During the “Rechazo” campaign in 2022, the strategist claimed that the constitutional proposal would “take away my savings” and suggested there would be “benefits” for criminals. Servel fined him 65 UTM for paying to promote propaganda against the new Constitution proposal from May 2 to June 30, 2022, a month before the legally established period.

In his defense, Joannon stated that he did not intend to campaign, but admitted he was trying to influence the constituents and the direction of the new Constitution draft. He added that the $19.5 million attributed to “Proyecto Voces por Chile” in META’s library until July 2022 was funded with his personal assets and a limited contribution from friends. Joannon is one of the owners of Blue Marketing (formerly Rebold), the agency responsible for the “Rechazo” strategy and, according to Servel, is the primary supplier for Kast’s campaign, accumulating $1.975 billion in invoices.

CIPER reviewed the 46 publications for which Servel sanctioned Joannon, disseminated between May and June 2022, and identified misleading information about the draft proposal written by the Constitutional Convention. Among the provocative statements found were: “This new Constitution will take power away from the Carabineros”; “Health insurance providers will disappear and contributions to supplementary insurance will cease”; and “It doesn’t fix anything for me and takes away my savings”. All these ads were removed for violating META regulations. The sponsored ads amounted to over $7.1 million spent and, in some cases, exceeded one million views.

In August 2022, an investigation by CIPER identified “Proyecto Voces por Chile” as one of the 36 entities operating outside of Servel’s oversight in the exit plebiscite. This investigation estimated expenses of at least $119 million in disseminating messages outside the legal campaign. Its fan page on META was registered under the agency Rebold Chile, and its account on Tik Tok was used to test content for the digital segment linked to Chile Vamos and La Coordinadora, overseen by Felipe “Yeti” Costabal, current head of the Secretariat of Communications (Secom) at La Moneda.

$868 Million Billed by Kast’s Campaign

According to records from Servel reported by CIPER, Blue Digital was one of the top three billing providers in the latest elections. Its main client was José Antonio Kast and the candidates from the Republican Party. Kast’s campaign accounted for more than half of those resources: $868 million paid to Blue Digital. An additional $313 million appears in the Republican Party’s financial reports. The remainder corresponds to independent candidates like Rodolfo Carter and Bernardo Fontaine, both linked to the far-right party.

Servel’s document also details other sanctions for late propaganda, with fines ranging from 20 to 90 UTM (from $1.4 million to $6.4 million), imposed on current Security Minister Martín Arrau; congresswoman Pamela Jiles; congressman Francisco Orrego; former mayor Gustavo Hasbún; former constituent Agustín Squella; and former gubernatorial candidate Karina Oliva. Arrau was fined 20 UTM benefiting Chillán for eight sponsored posts on Facebook before the legal deadline. In his defense, he argued that the videos were dissemination of ideas and not electoral propaganda, but the electoral authority dismissed his claim.

Jiles was sanctioned with 20 UTM benefiting La Pintana for urging votes for her spouse, Pablo Maltés, on the day of the regional governors elections in 2021. Orrego received a 50 UTM fine benefiting Santiago for encouraging votes for himself during a live broadcast on Chilevisión. Hasbún was fined 90 UTM benefiting Estación Central for ten videos posted late; he told CIPER he disagreed, stating that “the lawyer forgot to present the defenses”. Squella was fined 31 UTM benefiting Viña del Mar for twelve videos, explaining he made an “involuntary error” and that the fine was paid over two years ago.

Karina Oliva was sanctioned with 16 UTM benefiting La Florida, Pirque, and Isla de Maipo; and 28 UTM benefiting La Florida, San Ramón, and El Bosque for unauthorized public campaign propaganda. Despite this, Oliva responded to CIPER stating that “I have not been sanctioned in any case by Servel” and that her election accounts are approved. CIPER indicated that attempts to contact Joannon, Jiles, Orrego, and others involved yielded no response by the time of their report publication.