Before the 2022 elections, a structure – until now anonymous – of political attacks was installed in the digital space. Dirty Politics is a Facebook page created on July 4, 2022.
“Come with us. Be an active part of this voice. Shout with us. No maskswithout concessions. Until it breaks. Let’s break everything,” stated the video with which “Sucia Política” was presented on July 9, 2022 via Facebook.
Since their creation, the publications show a pattern of repeated attacks on various public figuressuch as politicians, journalists and civil society leaders.
The page used for “campaign B”, as those created to discredit electoral opponents are called in political marketing, had particular prominence during the 2023 electoral campaign.
Only during this period, the page allocated G. 186 million to Facebook and Instagram. Meanwhile on YouTube, reached more than 800,000 views.
However, on August 16, 2024 – just 15 months later and Santiago Peña’s management has already begun-, the page had executed more than G. 290 millionas detailed by Meta. Four of the page administrators are located in Argentina, two in the United Kingdom and one in Paraguay. The page also has a YouTube account, created on October 22, 2022.
Serious attacks
Dirty Politics made numerous publications for promote actions of the Peña Governmentas actions of the Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad) or the impulse of force “Lynx”.
Furthermore, it was used to openly defend the president Santiago Pena and other pro-government actors, such as Lea Gimenez either Gustavo Leitein response to public criticism.
The page also records violent publicationseven simulating executions in supposed trials towards renowned journalists such as Oscar Acosta, Enrique Gamarra, Mercedes “Menchi” Barriocanal, Rocio Pereira Da Costa, Roberto Coronel, Benjamín Fernández Bogado or media owners such as Antonio Vierci and Natalia Zucolillo.
No masks?
Dirty Politics, when registering its first advertising account, used the identity of a person supposedly called Diego Ricardo Ramirezwith the cell phone number +595971985308 and domiciled at 381 Prócer Juan Manuel Iturbe Street in the city of Asunción, according to its disclaimer.
In the declared place There is no person currently residing with that name. The account published numerous ads with this “disclaimer” until April 28, 2023, two days before the General Elections.
He January 22, 2024Dirty Politics presented a new disclaimermade in the name of Sucia Política, with the cell phone number +595991891933 and an email info@sucialítico.com.
During this new stage of the page, ads were published between February 17 and July 4, 2024.
“Official” nexus discovered
Despite the attempt at anonymity, Sucia Política exposed its official link through the cell phone number ending 933, which It is also declared on the page “Central Noticias” (CN)a portal that serves as a “pseudo medium” for the propaganda machinery.
The portal, until today, has been intended more than G. 470,259,045 in ads on Meta. Furthermore, the journalist Viviana Insfran It appears as an image in some videos.
In contact with ABC, Insfrán confirmed having worked for the page, until recently, producing isolated informative pieces.
After asking who is in charge, he indicated that the page is managed by an agency in charge of Juan Roberto “Jimmy” Villaverde Emategui so he suggested directing the questions to him.
Villaverde responded to the query about Central Paraguay and Sucia Política, denying having any link to those or other specified pages. Even, strikingly, ignoring the link with Insfrán.
Villaverde is a “militant” of Honor Colorado, as the Mitic minister described him, Gustavo Villate Contact ABC. Previously, he served as general coordinator of the #InfoVacunatePy youth campaign between 2021 and 2022.
Then he was involved in a scandal, after the transfer of the account in X intended for the official campaign for COVID-19 to the Honor Colorado movement.
