Original article: El socio chileno de Cerimedo: ¿quién es el abogado que fundó Numen, hizo campaña por el Rechazo y hoy aparece junto a Kast en La Moneda?
The name Enrique José García Arancibia is closely associated with the influence of Fernando Cerimedo in Chile, as the lawyer established the local branch of his holding company, Numen Group, with which the political operator of Latin America’s extreme right campaigned against a new Constitution.
According to the official records, the law graduate from the Universidad de los Andes, who later pursued a master’s degree in corporate law and another in tax law at the institution linked to Opus Dei, founded Numen Spa in Santiago on September 8, 2020.
García Arancibia subscribed the initial 1,000 shares, amounting to 100% of the company, and was additionally responsible for the management and representation of the firm dedicated to developing projects, implementing and creating advertising for individuals and corporations; as well as conducting market studies, public opinion surveys, and consultancy in the field of information and communication.
The Company Founded by García That Opened Chile to Cerimedo
Through this company, the Argentine consultant, currently detained in Bolivia facing four charges including attempted femicide against his ex-partner Nadia Beller, was hired by the so-called «Casa Común», a command for the Rejection in 2020, based in Vitacura, led by the former vice-president of La Polar and Isapre Colmena, and former deputy of the National Libertarian Party, Gonzalo de la Carrera, alongside former Codelco president (2010-2014), Gerardo Jofré, and other businesspeople linked to the right and far-right.
In this command, Cerimedo collaborated with the current chief advisor of the Second Floor of La Moneda, Alejandro Irarrázaval, the current head of the Communications Secretariat (Secom), Felipe Costabal, known as «Yeti,» and Ignacio Dülger. Their main task was to work on campaigns promoting the Rejection option, both for the entry and exit plebiscites.
According to available records, the first commission from the Casa Común concerning the initial citizen consultation took place in August 2020, when Numen conducted a study whose results suggested that the ‘Rejection’ had narrowed the gap with the Approval.
In fact, El Mercurio published on September 6, 2020, an article titled: “Survey Indicates Rejection and Approval Numbers Narrowing Two Months Before the Plebiscite (Entry)”, just two days before Enrique García Arancibia established Numen Spa and became the legal face of the company in Chile.
The opinion study noted a 42.3% for the Approval, while other surveys exceeded 70%, and Cerimedo, who assumed the company’s spokesperson role to the press, claimed to the mentioned outlet that they had conducted over 18,000 online surveys, a notably high number for the Chilean market, surpassing those employed by firms like CADEM, IPSOS, or Criteria.
A little over a month later, the Argentine gave an interview to Radio Duna on September 15, 2020, where he acknowledged that his agency (without mentioning that García Arancibia held 100% of the shares at the time) had been contacted by businessmen backing the rejection option.
The survey’s projections proved entirely inaccurate as the Approval won with 78%. “It’s hard to pinpoint where the error occurred,” Jofré noted regarding the difference between their predictions and the actual voting results, while Cerimedo stated to La Tercera that the mistake lay in that, “we analyzed and projected the data assuming mandatory voting, 100% attendance of voters,” overlooking the fact that voting was voluntary and a 100% turnout was impossible.
Campaign for the “Rejection” of a New Constitution
During the constitutional process, the individual responsible for multiple smear campaigns and fake news on social media deployed artificial accounts and trolls to interfere with algorithms, position content, and influence public opinion against the proposed new Constitution drafted by the Constitutional Convention.
“Last year I spent my time traveling because I was working for the campaign against the proposed new Constitution in Chile,” he stated in May 2023 to Infobae, while discussing with Mdz, he remarked that “what we did in the campaign was inform, not sell a vote. The people of Chile understood it wasn’t a good text, it was a text that would harm Chile.”
On September 4, 2022, he celebrated the victory of the “Rejection” in a message shared on his social media account X, stating: «We celebrate», emphasizing that it was a “grueling job.” He accompanied the message with an image showing himself with a team.
This image was likely taken in the offices of Numen Spa, located at Avenida Apoquindo 6410, Las Condes, the same headquarters of “Corral y García Abogados Limitada,” the law firm founded in 2011 by García Arancibia along with his partner, the lawyer and columnist for El Mercurio, Hernán Corral Talciani.
In fact, besides Numen Spa—where in September 2020 he subscribed the initial 1,000 shares equivalent to 100% of the company, and three years later in a financial statement reported by LaBot/CLIP he appeared with a 50% stake, without identifying who holds the remaining 50%—he is also an managing partner at Corral & García law firm, and according to the portal dequienes.cl, he has stakes in various companies across different sectors such as: Log Buz Consulting, Sociedad Anónima (consulting), Easy Property Spa (real estate brokerage), García y Cía. (legal services), and Managing Partners Ltda. (administration services).
Is Numen Spa Still Operating in Chile?
In July 2023, the journalistic team at LaBot visited the offices that Numen registers in Las Condes, which belong to the Corral & García law firm. There, Enrique García informed the journalists that “Numen does not operate in Chile.”
However, the tax records reveal that Numen SpA, RUT 77.235.109-7, has maintained activities with the SII since September 30, 2020 and shows tax documentation after that declaration.
Among the information collected by the account Chao_ Kast_2030 are:
• Electronic Invoice No. 154 authorized on June 26, 2026, and registered as received by the SII.
• Electronic Credit Note No. 7 authorized on April 22, 2024, also registered as received by the SII.
• Electronic Invoice No. 148, authorized on January 2, 2024, and subsequently annulled on July 31, 2024.
Furthermore, the record of authorized documents from the SII shows the last year of authorization as 2026 for Electronic Invoice and 2024 for Electronic Credit Note.
Although this data does not identify the clients involved, the amounts at stake, or the services performed by the company, it does reveal that since 2023 Numen SpA has continued to register tax documentation with the SII, including documentation in 2024 and 2026, indicating it is still operating in our country.
Cerimedo: “Enrique García is My Longtime Partner”
In 2024, Fernando Cerimedo declared to La Bot; “Enrique García has been my partner for a long time. We have Numen SpA, which is the company in Chile,” confirming their connection.
In the article “The Argentine Who Misinforms in Chile and His Ties to One of the Constitutional Arbitrators,” the cited outlet included an image pulled from the Numen Publicidad website identifying García as Partner/Country Manager in Chile.
Reviewing the current content of the page, it can be observed that Fernando Cerimedo appears under the title of founder, while the representative in Chile (Country Manager) is Javier Tellez-Girón Peón, with no mention of the lawyer.
According to records shared by García Arancibia himself on social media, his connection with Fernando Cerimedo remained active as of December 2023, as they both appeared together in a photo taken during the inauguration of the far-right Javier Milei as President of Argentina.
The lawyer posted the photo with the phrase: “Fantastic team”.
From Rejection Promoter to Arbitrator of the Constitutional Process
After the rejection of the proposal from the Constitutional Convention, a Technical Eligibility Committee was created and in January 2023, Enrique García Arancibia was appointed an arbitrator by the People’s Party (PDG), the party established to support Franco Parisi’s presidential bid.
Cerimedo applauded the appointment of the arbitrators in his digital outlet La Derecha Diario: Very happy with the members who will make up that arbitration. It was worked out to reject a proposed constitution from Gabriel Boric’s management, with the idea of creating a better one, and it will be done,” stated the Argentine consultant. However, he did not mention that García was his partner in Numen Spa.
As reported by LaBot before the 2022 plebiscite, the lawyer was in favor of rejecting the constitutional draft, and although he registered his foundation Chile United For You to campaign, he ultimately donated 4 million to another organization (United We Are Stronger), while his did not receive funding.
Unlike the PDG, the lawyer advocated for a new constitutional process after the rejection, according to a column authored by him published in El Líbero titled “The 7 Deadly Sins of the Constitutional Process.”
In the text, he described the proposal drafted by the constituents as “a threat to Chile’s stability and future,” arguing it should not be approved.
In the column, the lawyer presented seven fundamental criticisms against the draft proposal by the Constitutional Convention, based on seven sins; 1) Plurinationality, which fragments the country and creates overrepresentation of indigenous people; 2) Weakened security by restricting the role of the Armed Forces and removing public order tools; 3) Ungovernability due to a system concentrating power in Congress and eliminating presidential initiatives; 4) Politicization of justice with parallel legal systems and a parity council affecting judicial independence; 5) Statist social rights with a pension and healthcare sharing system without freedom of choice; 6) Economic uncertainty with barriers to private initiatives and regional fiscal autonomy; and 7) An ultra-left program imposing a radical indigenous and statist vision, unviable to finance and reform.
According to García, the only option was to reject the text and begin a new constitutional process, of which he would shortly become a part as an arbitrator for the PDG.
During the process, the lawyer hosted the program Mesón Constituyente de El Baquedano aired on YouTube, where he conversed with various figures from traditional right and far-right about drafting the text of a new Constitution, as well as contemporary political issues. His affinity with the Republican Party and conservative perspective was evident in each episode. In fact, in one episode, he hosted then-Republican presidential candidate José Antonio Kast.
Prior to the exit plebiscite on December 17, in which citizens would decide whether to support or reject the Constitution proposal drafted by the Constitutional Council, the jurist was promoting the “in favor” option on his account on X, which has remained inactive since then.
García Arancibia with Kast at La Moneda
In the last three years, Enrique García Arancibia has maintained a low profile in the media, with no mentions of his activities recorded.
On his LinkedIn account, content related to his participation in international arbitration congresses and training for companies can be found. Currently, the lawyer serves as an Arbitrator at the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (CAM Santiago), the Arbitration Court of Madrid, and the International Center for Arbitration and Conflict Resolution (CIAR), and in academia, he teaches History of Law and Civil Law at Universidad Andrés Bello.
However, the content of his profile took a political turn on March 11, 2026, as during the ceremony where José Antonio Kast took office as President of the Republic, Enrique José García Arancibia posted a photo alongside the president at the Palacio de La Moneda.
“I thank the invitation from the President of the Republic, H.E. José Antonio Kast Rist, to the installation ceremony at Palacio de La Moneda,” he wrote.
Corral y García Abogados reaffirms its commitment to continue working, as every day, for the prosperity and development of all inhabitants of our country,” he noted.
While Cerimedo faces justice in Bolivia on charges ranging from attempted femicide to illicit enrichment and the far-right tries to distance itself from him, his partner in Chile has managed to maintain ties with the political and power world. From being the legal face of a company that worked for the “Rejection,” the lawyer transitioned to become an arbitrator of the constitutional process, and later appeared on the same day of his swearing-in alongside Kast at La Moneda.
The El Ciudadano team reached out to lawyer Enrique García Arancibia to inquire about his connection with Fernando Cerimedo and his current involvement with Numen Spa, but at the time of this article’s publication, he had not responded.
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