Bolivian police have arrested the leader of a coup attempt, hours after soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the capital La Paz. Armored vehicles and troops had taken up positions in Murillo Square, where the main government buildings are located. They later retreated.
The rebel military leader in charge, General Juan José Zúñiga, said he wanted to “restructure democracy” and that while he respected President Luis Arce for now, there would be a change of government. He is now being held.
President Arce condemned the coup attempt, calling on the public to “organize and mobilize… in support of democracy”.
“We cannot allow another coup attempt to take the lives of Bolivians,” he said in a televised message to the nation from inside the presidential palace.
His words clearly resonated, with pro-democracy protesters taking to the streets in support of the government.
Arce also announced that he would appoint a new military commander, confirming reports that General Zúñiga had been dismissed after openly criticizing Bolivia’s former leader, Evo Morales.
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Morales also condemned the coup attempt and called for criminal charges to be filed against General Zúñiga and his “accomplices.”
The prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal investigation.
It is increasingly clear that this was a short-lived and misguided military uprising rather than a broader power struggle.
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Nevertheless, the coming weeks will be key in determining whether General Zúñiga’s military mutiny was just an isolated incident.
Of course, the government now appears more vulnerable, and others may try to overthrow Arce’s rule – albeit through politics rather than the military.
In addition, he can count on the support of Evo Morales, the influential former president and elder statesman of the Bolivian left.
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Morales called on his supporters, especially in the country’s indigenous coca farmers’ movement, to take to the streets to demand an end to the coup attempt.
That demonstration of people power may have helped strengthen resolve against General Zúñiga’s plans, which also included releasing “political prisoners” including former leader Jeanine Áñez.
Speaking from Murillo Square after it was taken by troops, General Zúñiga said: “We will recover this homeland.
“An elite has taken over this country, a mob that has destroyed the country.”
He was fired after appearing on television on Monday, saying he would arrest Morales if he runs again next year, even though the former president is barred from doing so.
Previously allies, Arce and Morales have recently disagreed on many issues, but they are united in their condemnation of the use of troops to force political change in Bolivia.
In fact, in 2019, President Morales was forced out by military leaders who said he tried to manipulate the results of the presidential election, sending him into exile in Mexico.
Before Evo Morales came to power in 2005, Bolivia was one of the most politically unstable countries in the Americas. His time in power brought much-needed stability to the Andean nation, at least until its ignominious end.
Meanwhile, Arce – who was elected after a period of instability following the 2019 elections – will have been heartened by the speed of the regional response.
Close allies such as the left-wing governments in Venezuela and Colombia were quick to condemn what happened and called for democracy to prevail. Washington also called for calm.
Even those opposed to his socialist rule do not want to see a return to the dark days in South America where militaries with appalling human rights records often violently overthrew democratically elected leaders. (BBC/Z-3)
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