Bolivia Police Arrest Army General After Failed Coup Attempt: Report (X: image@Rocha4T)
The Bolivian police detained the leader of an attempted coup within hours of an attack on the presidential palace in the capital, La Paz, which was stormed by soldiers. Armed vehicles and troops had taken up position on Murillo square. The location was where major government buildings are situated. All the armed vehicles were later retreated.
In a dramatic video broadcast on Bolivian television, President Luis Arce was confronting the former army chief Gen. Juan José Zuniga, who was leading the coup attempt. He was heard as saying, “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination”, as reported by AP.
Gen Juan José Zúñiga, the rebel army leader in charge, had said that he wanted to “restructure democracy”. He said while he respected President Luis Arce for now, there would be a change of government.
Arce condemned the coup attempt and called on the public to “organise and mobilise… in favour of democracy”. In televised message to the country, he said another coup attempt to take Bolivian lives cannot be allowed.
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The President also said that he was appointing new military commanders, and confirmed that Zúñiga had been dismissed after openly criticising the country’s former leader Evo Morales.
Morales also condemned the coup attempt and called for criminal charges to be brought against Gen Zúñiga and his “accomplices”.
The army commander was seen being escorted into a police vehicle while he spoke to the media.
Taking to his X (formerly twitter), Arce said that “We denounce irregular mobilizations of some units of the Bolivian Army. Democracy must be respected”.
Denunciamos movilizaciones irregulares de algunas unidades del Ejército Boliviano. La democracia debe respetarse.
— Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia) June 26, 2024
According to Reuters, an armed vehicles forcefully breached a door of the presidential palace, and soldiers entered after.
The following week will see if Zúñiga’s military insurrection was just an isolated incident or not.
Reportedly, the government now appears vulnerable and others might take advantage in dislodging Arce’s administration through political moves rather than military coup.
After taking up the Murillo square, Zúñiga had said: “We are going to recover this homeland. He said, “an elite has taken over the country, vandals who have destroyed the country”.
He was sacked after he said he would arrest Morales if he ran for power again next year, even though the former president is barred from doing so.
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Bolivia was reportedly one of the most politically volatile country in the Americas. The atmosphere changed when Morales took power in 2005, bringing much-needed stability to the country. He was forced out by military chiefs in 2019, who claimed that Morale was trying to manipulate the result of the presidential election. He was send to exile in Mexico.
