Paraguay's President Santiago Peña was questioned about the 'dirty campaign' scheme that finances social networks to attack the press and government critics. Peña admitted knowing Juan Roberto 'Jimmy' Villaverde Emategui, identified as one of the network's operators, but denied that he provides services to the state.
'Jimmy is a militant of the Colorado Party like thousands of others, a sympathizer within the party,' Peña responded to the press. 'He does not work in the communications area within the government. It is a lie that he has an office at Mburuvicha Róga,' he added.
Despite the government's attempts to downplay Villaverde's role, public records and digital sources indicate he had an active role close to the leadership of the Honor Colorado movement. Villaverde was one of those in charge of managing the official social media of Peña and Vice President Pedro Alliana during the presidential campaign.
According to data from the Comptroller General of the Republic, Villaverde initially worked as head of the IT Department at the Youth Secretariat. On November 20, 2023, already under the current government, he was appointed administrative assistant in the Social Communication area of the Yacyretá Binational Entity (EBY), a position from which he resigned in January 2024.
Journalistic investigations indicate that the network of pro-government pages and profiles dedicated to discrediting operates through a digital agency called Comunik, based in Coronel Oviedo. The company was founded by Villaverde in partnership with Fabio Morales, current chief of staff of the Governorate of Caaguazú.
From this structure, sites such as Despierta Paraguay are said to have been managed, which spent more than G. 150 million exclusively on Facebook and Instagram ads to disseminate defamatory content. According to digital platform metrics, 69% of paid attacks on YouTube and 47% on Meta directly targeted the country's independent press.
After the scheme was revealed, the network's administrators removed more than 60 attack posts and completely deactivated the Despierta Paraguay accounts.