Argentinian far-right political strategist Fernando Cerimedo (left) and former advisor of the National Electoral Council of Honduras, Marlon Ochoa (right). Photo: File photo/Presidency of Honduras.
On Wednesday, August 26, former advisor to the Honduran National Electoral Council (CNE), Marlon Ochoa, unleashed a political storm by publishing a series of audios on his X account that, according to him, prove Argentinian far-right political consultant Fernando Cerimedo’s direct intervention in the November 2025 Honduran elections. The recordings, which were already handed over to the Attorney General’s Office in December 2025, are now back in the public sphere amid a growing climate of accusations of an alleged fraud that the bipartisan power in Honduras is trying to bury.
In the audios circulating on social media, attributed to Cerimedo, who was an advisor to the National Party’s presidential campaign, he is heard saying they stuffed votes in favor of the far-right candidate Nasry Asfura in certain ballot boxes and removed votes that were not in his favor. Additionally, the consultant explicitly instructs local operators not to accept the vote-by-vote recount, a request that leftist candidate Rixi Moncada had made on election day while denouncing irregularities in the process.
A complaint that reached the Attorney General’s Office and was halted by the Supreme Court
Ochoa’s X post is not an isolated incident. In December 2025, Ochoa formally presented these audios to Honduras’ then-Attorney General Johel Zelaya as part of a request for an investigation into electoral fraud. Subsequently, the former advisor expanded the complaint with new evidence in which, he claimed, “the greatest electoral interference by the United States in the history of Honduras” is evident. In those additional recordings, Ochoa identifies the voices of a former president, a former presidential candidate from the Liberal Party, and a foreign presidential advisor.
Although the Attorney General’s Office formally announced the opening of investigations and requested expert support from the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, the investigation was abruptly suspended by order of the Supreme Court of Justice at the request of two electoral councilors, Cossette López and Ana Paola Hall. Ochoa called the court decision “arbitrary and unprecedented.” He said the CNE declared Asfura the winner without counting all the ballots or processing the challenges presented, violating candidates’ constitutional rights.
Political persecution and official shielding
Ochoa directly linked his subsequent dismissal from the CNE to the complaints that he made public. In April 2026, the National Congress, with the support of the National Party and Liberal Party blocs, approved an impeachment trial against him that resulted in his expulsion from the CNE. Ochoa described the process as “an inquisitorial trial” and highlighted that the real objective was to conceal the reported crimes. He has also publicly stated that there are plans to assassinate him and has informed relevant authorities about the matter.
In his statements, Ochoa labeled Cerimedo as “an international criminal, an electoral pirate in Latin America, cloaked under the mantle of Donald Trump’s impunity.” “He has the audacity to sail like a pirate in our countries, but since there is no perfect crime, he is already imprisoned in Bolivia,” he added.
The Honduran scandal opens a Pandora’s box that could be key to understanding the most alarming political intervention process in Latin America in the last 50 years. Cerimedo’s arrest in Bolivia and the recent publication of the audios on X add pressure on the Honduran judiciary to resume an investigation that, according to Ochoa, has been systematically blocked by the bipartisan power. Meanwhile, citizens observe the fragility of the region’s democratic systems with growing skepticism.
Fernando Cerimedo, who advised far-right presidents Javier Milei in Argentina and Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, was arrested in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on August 18, charged with attempted femicide against his ex-partner, lawyer Nadia Beller. Furthermore, he faces legal proceedings in Bolivia for money laundering, domestic violence, and protecting illegal flights linked to drug trafficking.
Ultra-Right Strategist Fernando Cerimedo’s Activities in Chile
The case uncovered by Ochoa, now gaining traction through its dissemination on X, could provide the necessary impetus to conduct a precise review of electoral interference across the continent.
In all Latin American elections where the right wing has won, the leftist fronts raised allegations of various types of intervention and manipulation in the electoral processes. Beyond initial suspicions, many cases presented compelling evidence that would have been sufficient to annul the election results. However, the electoral bodies, often composed of officials with close ties to the hegemonic powers, chose to ignore the evidence and validated the results despite obvious irregularities.
The study of the Honduran case thus becomes essential to understanding this destabilizing logic that is repeating across the continent. This scandal is nothing more than an additional reason to question the fragility of democratic systems that, once again, have seen how ghostly hands of power operate in the shadows with total impunity.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF
