(La Paz) The head of Bolivia’s armed forces was dismissed and arrested on Wednesday after massing men and tanks in front of the presidential palace in La Paz claiming to want to “restructure democracy”, in what President Luis Arce denounced as a coup attempt.
General Juan José Zúñiga was apprehended and taken into a police vehicle while speaking to the press outside a barracks in the capital.
“You are under arrest, General! », said Interior Minister Jhonny Aguilera, according to images broadcast by public television.
He was taken to the police station of the Special Crime Fighting Force (FELCC). The prosecution did not specify what charges were brought against him.
Previously, the general and his men had withdrawn from Murillo Square in La Paz, which they had taken over during the day, positioning armored vehicles in front of the presidential palace.
These soldiers had sowed confusion in the capital by advancing in close ranks through the streets to this square, to which they had restricted access.
Mr. Arce then denounced on the social network X “the irregular movements of certain units of the Bolivian army”. “Democracy must be respected,” said the left-wing head of state.
According to AFP journalists on site, an armored vehicle tried to break down a metal door of the Palacio Quemado, the seat of the presidency, and General Zúñiga briefly entered the palace.
Surrounded by soldiers, the person said that “the armed forces are trying to restructure democracy, to make it a real democracy. Not that of a few, not that of a few masters who have ruled the country for 30 or 40 years.”
In a video message to the nation alongside his ministers, Mr Arce then launched a call for mobilization. “We need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup, in favor of democracy,” he said.
Former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) also said on X that “a coup d’état is being prepared”. “Soldiers and tanks are deployed in Murillo Square,” he wrote, calling “for a national mobilization to defend democracy.”
Mr. Arce eventually dismissed the rebel general and immediately swore in a new command of the armed forces, according to footage broadcast live on national television.
Rumors have been circulating since Tuesday that General Zúñiga, in office since November 2022, could be dismissed for exceeding his duties.
In an interview on Monday with a television channel, he said he would arrest Mr. Morales if he continued to want to run for president in 2025 when the Constitutional Court decided in December 2023 that he could not. .
“Legally he is disqualified, he can no longer be president of this country,” the general said.
The military “are the armed arm of the country and we will defend the Constitution at all costs,” he added.
Bolivia’s ruling party, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), is deeply divided between Mr. Arce and Mr. Morales, once allies and now adversaries in the 2025 presidential election.
Evo Morales is seeking the nomination on behalf of the MAS. Luis Arce has not yet made an official candidacy.
Condemnations of General Zúñiga’s action on Wednesday poured in.
The leaders of Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Colombia have called for respect for democracy and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X: “I am a lover of democracy and I wishes it to prevail throughout Latin America.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denounced an attempted “coup in Bolivia” orchestrated by “the far right with a military traitor.”
Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro said “no form of violation of the constitutional order will be tolerated.”
The United States said it was monitoring the situation “closely,” calling for calm, according to a White House spokeswoman.
