In 1970, Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori coined the term “uncanny valley” to refer to an eerie, maybe even revolting reaction that humans would have when facing a nearly life-like robot. Mori, who was at the time a robotics professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, published an essay in a little-known journal called Energy, in which he postulated that initial progress toward a more human-like robot would generate increasing affection, up until a certain point where the resemblance was nearly there, but not quite. At that point, affinity would turn to rejection, wrote Mori. The “descent into eeriness is known as the uncanny valley.” The concept has come back time and time again and is particularly relevant in the era of artificial intelligence, when AI-created images and videos are flooding the information ecosystem, becoming a key element in the creation of human subjectivity and culture. Metaphorically, many of President Javier Milei’s voters and supporters are experiencing a similar “descent into eeriness” as the libertarian political project fails to deliver its promised fruits but also as a continued succession of scandals and bizarre characters erode society’s trust.
The latest such participant in the libertarian ecosystem to lose his shirt is Fernando Cerimedo, a repeat offender. A political strategist who was working for the recently elected government of Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, Cerimedo was arrested at the Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra this week as he was trying to board a plane to Buenos Aires. A former romantic partner and political figure in Bolivia, Nadia Beller, suffered an assassination attempt, but she survived. She immediately blamed Cerimedo, who she claimed co-governed the country, was deeply corrupt and had sought to kill her after they distanced themselves romantically. Beller then revealed she was four weeks pregnant with Cerimedo’s child.
Cerimedo is no stranger to scandal, having had a close working relationship with the Jair Bolsonaro campaign in 2022 that resulted in a defeat at the hands of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and a failed coup d’état à la Donald Trump. Cerimedo, owner of right-wing pseudo-news website La Derecha Diario, was accused of participating in the failed coup through the distribution of disinformation and fake news pointing to a rigged election. While the investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Tribunal into the Argentine’s participation eventually dissipated, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison and barred from holding public office. The political strategist had also been an integral part of Milei’s successful presidential campaign, credited particularly his work on the digital information ecosystem where the libertarians excelled. He was also linked to the scandal surrounding Diego Spagnuolo, the former head of the ANDIS national disability agency, who blew the lid on a supposed corruption scheme allegedly involving Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei. Some pointed the finger at Cerimedo for the supposed leak of the audio recordings, which indicated a three-percent bribe was collected on medication purchases. Notably, Cerimedo’s former wife, Natalia Basil, worked at ANDIS between April and December 2024.
Cerimedo is one more cog in the wheel of the new right political machine at the regional level. With Milei as one of the leaders of the “culture wars” and Trump as the Supreme Pontiff, political strategists, lobbyists, influencers and all sorts of characters have become key players in the construction of domestic, regional, and international political projects that have progressively overtaken Latin America. A majority of countries have been “flipped,” including Colombia and Chile. Trump and Milei even dream of a progressive defeat in Brazil, where Lula is set to face Flávio Bolsonaro in October. To do so, they will deploy their full gamut of tactics including foreign intromission in electoral processes, direct and indirect financing, misinformation campaigns and traditional politicking.
One of the key structures in this construction is the Latin American chapter of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), with the direct involvement of a Miami-based former Argentine spy who has become a successful businessman, Leonardo Scatturice. Aboard one of his planes came Laura Belén Arrieta, who entered Argentina last year with 10 suitcases without ever passing through a security scanner or check. Scatturice, who is said to have close connections with controversial political strategist Santiago Caputo, has picked up lucrative technology deals with the state under the Milei administration. He also scooped up low-cost airline FlyBondi as the company has descended to near bankruptcy (though the carrier is still struggling).
Corruption is not a new feature in politics, much less something that can be pinned on Milei, Trump or the new right. And while such scandals are embarrassing and debilitating for all governments, the succession of connections seemingly showing the amateur and caricaturesque nature of the head of state and his associates is generating an “uncanny valley” in his public image that could come up to bite him in the rear in upcoming presidential elections. The President was directly involved in the ‘$LIBRA’ crypto-scandal and has lied time and again in order to deflect responsibility. Manuel Adorni, a political stalwart of the libertarian project who held the all-important post of Cabinet chief, fell from grace pathetically as he and his wife were exposed via an exponential surge in their personal expenditure since taking office. While Scatturice appears quite professional in his scheming, the images of Belén Arrieta on the tarmac in Aeroparque Jorge Newberry airport in Buenos Aires were scandalous. Spagnuolo’s voice messages and the accusations lodged at Karina and her political lieutenants, Martín and Eduardo ‘Lule’ Menem were pornographic.
To a certain extent, the reality of the Milei administration’s near three years in office is even more bizarre than expected. There was hope among those who opposed Kirchnerism more specifically and Peronism more broadly that Milei, an anarcho-capitalist libertarian bent on putting into practice the principles of the Austrian economic school, would rescue the country from the clutches of leftist populism. They could sympathise with certain elements of the “culture wars” and the anti-wokeism rants, but weren’t big fans of his form. If he managed to beat inflation, cut the deficit, and open the economy, then his other sins would be seen as secondary and nothing more than a character trait. Milei has made important progress in the fight against inflation, consolidated the idea of eliminating budget deficits – even if his are achieved by kicking the can down the road – and sparked economic growth, albeit concentrated in extractivist sectors. The ‘círculo rojo’ group of influential decision-makers made up of business leaders, politicians, journalists and other members of the establishment were beginning to believe that Milei would finally get it right. An important portion of society believed this time would be different.
Three years in, Milei is suffering the political deterioration that comes with the office. Also perhaps the physical effects – most recently, a nine-day absence from the Casa Rosada and any public appearance sparked wild rumours about his mental health. The more he appeared as the saviour that would drag Argentina out of its cycle of economic decrepitude, the more he generated empathy. Much like Mori’s theory, the more it looked like the real deal, the higher the affinity. Until, at some point, it drops into the “uncanny valley,” as polling is indicating. Reality beats the illusion. Fortunately for Milei, he’s got no real opposition. The President will continue on his quest to eliminate the PASO primaries and incentivise Peronism to remain fragmented in his attempt to attain re-election. Unless he generates a spur of economic growth at the individual level, particularly among those in major urban centres, he will have a hard time getting out of the “valley.” For now, he’s still the frontrunner but there’s a long way to go.
