(La Paz) Bolivia’s President Luis Arce called for mobilization against “the coup d’état” on Wednesday, hours after armed soldiers and armored vehicles took up positions in front of the presidency in La Paz.
“The Bolivian people are called today, we need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup in favor of democracy,” Arce said in a video message to the nation from presidential palace, alongside his ministers.
“We denounce the irregular movements of some units of the Bolivian army. Democracy must be respected,” the president wrote on the social network X.
According to ex-president Evo Morales (2006-2019) on X, “a coup d’état is being prepared”.
Social media images taken by residents show army units advancing through the streets in close ranks, and armored vehicles and a tank parked in Murillo Square, where soldiers were seen entering the Palacio Quemado, the seat of the presidency.
According to Bolivian television, the head of the army, General Zuniga, briefly entered the presidential palace.
It was not immediately possible to know whether President Arce, elected in 2020, was in the palace.
Rumors have been circulating since Tuesday that General Zuniga, in office since November 2022, could be removed from office.
He allegedly overstepped his duties by making statements against Mr. Morales, once an ally of Arce and now his biggest political opponent ahead of the 2025 presidential elections.
In an interview with a television channel on Monday, the army chief said he would arrest Mr. Morales if he pursued his plan to run again, even though he can no longer be a candidate according to a court ruling .
“Legally he is disqualified, he can no longer be president of this country,” Mr. Zuniga said. The armed forces “are the armed wing of the country and we will defend the Constitution at all costs,” he added.
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, said that “no form of violation of the constitutional order will be tolerated” in Bolivia, expressing his “solidarity with President Luis Arce” from Asuncion, where the organization’s general assembly is being held until Friday.
