Nadia Beller diplomatic asylum in Mexico and Bolivian salvoconducto review, Digi Mart USA News (La Paz, Bolivia): Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry said lawyer Nadia Beller has received diplomatic asylum in Mexico and that the government is still evaluating a request for a safe-conduct pass.
According to the statement, on November 4 the ministry received an official communication from the Mexican Embassy reporting that diplomatic asylum had been granted to Beller and requesting the corresponding safe-conduct pass. The ministry said the evaluation is ongoing and takes into account national legal provisions and applicable international obligations.
The ministry also clarified that during a bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Bolivia and Mexico at the XXX Ibero-American Summit in Madrid, no commitment was made to issue the safe-conduct pass, nor was any agreement reached to deliver it when the Bolivian foreign minister returned home.
The government therefore rejected reports that Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco and Bolivian Foreign Minister Héctor Huanca had agreed in Madrid to process the asylum request and that Bolivia would issue the pass so Beller could travel from the embassy to the airport.
Preliminary information indicates that Beller has remained at the diplomatic mission in La Paz since Wednesday, and that the embassy itself suggested she request asylum if she believed she needed protection. This has not been confirmed.
The case dates to August 17, when two hitmen dressed as food delivery workers shot Beller at a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The lawyer, who was struck by at least four bullets, said she had been summoned to the location under the pretext of receiving evidence in a case.
Hours later, Argentine consultant Fernando Cerimedo, Beller’s former partner and an adviser to President Rodrigo Paz, was arrested in Santa Cruz. Prosecutors charged him with attempted femicide as an alleged mastermind, and a court ordered 180 days of pretrial detention.
Cerimedo also faces proceedings for alleged domestic violence against Beller and alleged illicit enrichment.
From the hospital, Beller described the incident as an attempted femicide. In statements to the DTV channel, she said, “In Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz does not govern, Cerimedo governs.” She also said the government had the greatest interest in silencing her and that she had evidence of alleged corruption.
Presidential spokesman José Luis Gálvez guaranteed her safety, said no implicated person would be shielded, and downplayed Cerimedo’s influence over the government. On September 23, Beller claimed President Paz was covering up the consultant’s influence.
Tensions continued with audio recordings attributed to Cerimedo. Around ten recordings were circulated after his arrest, and prosecutors created a commission to investigate their authenticity.
Days before the asylum announcement, Beller said on social media that she was suffering “harassment and re-victimization by the Bolivian state,” because police were following her “illegally,” even though prosecutors had agreed to remove the police custody she had as a protected witness.
