Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano said on September 18, 2026, that Andy Rivas is a personal friend but has no contract with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or with him. He made the statement at the López Palace before President Santiago Peña’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
“Andrés Rivas is a personal friend of mine. He has no contract of any kind with either the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or me,” the minister said. Ramírez Lezcano said the two had attended international meetings to which Rivas was reportedly invited, but maintained that this did not create an institutional relationship.
The issue under investigation is precisely the contrast between the denial of a contract and Rivas’s access to authorities and official delegations. The Argentine had direct contact with Peña, Vice President Pedro Alliana and the foreign minister, and was introduced as a counselor or adviser at bilateral meetings in the United States. There are also records of his inclusion in official delegations linked to the reopening of Paraguay’s embassy in Israel and to events in Taiwan.
Rivas also appeared as an “honorary counselor” at the Latino Inaugural Ball, organized by Hispanic 100 in Washington, alongside Peña and Ramírez Lezcano. He was also photographed with the foreign minister during efforts involving U.S. lawmakers in support of Ramírez’s unsuccessful candidacy for secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Records mentioned in reports do not show Rivas on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs payroll or in public contracts for advisory or lobbying services. Questions about his role led lawmaker Espínola to submit a request for information. On February 12, 2025, the Permanent Commission of the National Congress approved the request; the following day, the commission’s then-president, lawmaker Miguel Del Puerto, sent the resolution to the foreign ministry, starting the 15-business-day deadline for a response. The requested information, however, had still not been provided about a year and a half later.
The request asked whether Rivas had been hired, appointed or assigned to the ministry and, if he was not part of it, what role he held, what services he provided and whether he had received a salary, fees, airfare, per diems or lodging. In August 2026, the Senate approved a new request, submitted by opposition senator Rafael Filizzola of the Progressive Democratic Party, expanding the investigation to possible ties maintained up to the present.
Attention on Rivas also stems from his declared relationship as a “business partner” of Fernando or Sebastián Cerimedo—the sources use both names for the same person. Cerimedo is described as a strategist for right-wing campaigns associated with Javier Milei in Argentina and Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, and as having taken part in campaigns in Honduras. He founded La Derecha Diario and presented himself as a manager of “bot farms”, networks of fake accounts used to promote issues or attack critics.
Cerimedo is detained in Bolivia and faces accusations including the alleged attempted femicide of his former partner, Nadia Beller, who, according to the cited accusation, was pregnant, as well as possible ties to drug trafficking. The allegations depend on judicial confirmation and do not in themselves demonstrate any responsibility by Rivas. He is also the husband of Paraguayan prosecutor Irma Llano, head of the Specialized Unit for Cybercrime at the Public Prosecutor’s Office.