Original article: “¿Quién pagó a Cerimedo?”: Rixi Moncada exige investigar maquinaria digital extranjera en elecciones de Honduras

Rixi Moncada Demands Investigation into Foreign Digital Influence in Honduras Elections Amidst Fernando Cerimedo Controversy

Former presidential candidate of Liberty and Refoundation (Libre), Rixi Moncada, has urged the Honduran Public Ministry to launch a thorough investigation into the influence of far-right Argentine political consultant Fernando Cerimedo in the upcoming 2025 elections, who is currently detained in Bolivia.

Moncada linked her request to the cases initiated by the Bolivian prosecutor against the far-right advisor, which include, so far, attempted femicide against his ex-partner Nadia Beller, money laundering, domestic violence, and alleged complicity in flights connected to drug trafficking.

During a raid on one of Cerimedo’s residences in La Paz, authorities discovered the equivalent of $50,000 in Bolivian currency, dollars, and euros, along with a «mini bot farm» used to generate thousands of social media messages through accounts artificially created by the consultant, including the 50,000 he admitted in a May 2023 interview with Infobae were operating in Argentina, alongside others used in Chile.

In the midst of the legal proceedings, the consultant’s ex-partner, who survived an attack allegedly orchestrated by Cerimedo using hired assassins, accused him of establishing a digital structure composed of thousands of automated accounts designed to manipulate narratives and promote specific messages on social media.

What Digital Structure Did Cerimedo Operate in Honduras?

Given these developments, Moncada is calling on the Public Ministry to clarify: Who hired Cerimedo? Who financed his activities in Honduras? Who did he coordinate with? What platforms and structures did he use? and what links could exist between these operations and allegations of manipulation and dirty campaigns that implicate the consultant, who has worked for Nasry Asfura’s 2025 election campaigns and other far-right figures like Javier Milei in Argentina, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia.

The former Defense Minister asserted that the investigations and analyses emerging from the legal process Cerimedo faces in Bolivia are revealing methods of operation, digital structures, and facts that compel Hondurans to reflect on our recent past and assess Cerimedo’s role in the country.

«Who was he working for? Who did he meet with? What digital structure did he operate? And what was his involvement in the 2025 electoral process?» she asked, emphasizing the need for Honduran authorities to act swiftly and transparently in response to what she termed a potential threat to electoral sovereignty.

The ex-candidate recalled that in Honduras, his name has already been politically linked to the National Party, and that before, during, and after the elections, the former advisor of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Marlon Ochoa, presented recordings and evidence that revealed a plan of fraud and foreign interference. However, instead of investigating, Ochoa was dismissed by the National Congress, further raising suspicion regarding potential obstruction of justice.

Moncada also questioned why the then-advisor at the CNE submitted complaints without a comprehensive investigation being conducted. «We are not asking for scapegoats. We are demanding the truth,» she asserted, while requesting that files be opened and all available elements be investigated to determine if there was a foreign structure attempting to interfere in the Honduran electoral process.

In line with this, Ochoa reaffirmed his allegations concerning irregularities in the 2025 general elections and recalled that the files submitted to Attorney General Johel Zelaya demonstrate how the Honduran right, through the Liberal Party and the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, allegedly manipulated the elections to facilitate the rise to power of current president conservative Nasry Asfura.

He specified that the records can identify Cerimedo’s voice affirming, «they inserted votes in favor of Nasry Asfura in certain ballot boxes; they removed votes that did not favor them; they have the Armed Forces aligned; and they instruct them not to accept a recount vote by vote.»

Moncada: «The Electoral Sovereignty of Honduras Is Non-Negotiable»

In this context, Rixi Moncada stated that the prosecutors assigned to the complaints related to the 2025 elections have a constitutional duty to pursue the matter to the fullest extent, with objectivity, scientific rigor, and respect for due process.

She made it clear that the goal is not to manufacture culprits, «but to discover the truth» about what transpired during the elections.

Additionally, she warned that if the Judicial Power obstructed or prevented the Public Ministry from deepening certain electoral investigations, the Honduran people have the right to know why, who ordered it, and on what basis.

In a message shared on her social media, she emphasized that the electoral sovereignty of Honduras is non-negotiable, and that citizens need to know «how the foreign political and digital machinery operated to intervene, coerce, or alter the people’s will».

«No foreigner, no economic power, no party, and no foreign power has the right to replace the sovereign will of the Honduran people,» she concluded.