Bolivian president's adviser arrested after lawyer shot

Bolivian police arrested Fernando Cerimedo, a close adviser to President Rodrigo Paz, at the airport in Santa Cruz on Tuesday over the shooting of lawyer Nadia Beller.

Beller was wounded but survived the attack outside a hotel in the eastern city on Monday night.

Local media broadcast video footage showing two men dressed as food delivery drivers approaching Beller outside the hotel, opening fire and fleeing.

Santa Cruz police chief David Gomez said officers deployed at the airport and arrested Cerimedo there. Gomez said police suspected a “problem of a sentimental nature” between Cerimedo and Beller.

Argentine media reported that Cerimedo and Beller were previously in a relationship. Local media reported that Cerimedo had flown from La Paz to Santa Cruz on Tuesday morning and had planned to travel on to Buenos Aires.

Cerimedo is an Argentine political consultant who has worked on campaigns for several right-wing Latin American politicians, including Argentina's Javier Milei, former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro and Bolivia's Paz. He stayed on as Paz's adviser after Paz took office in November.