(La Paz) In an apparent coup attempt, Bolivian soldiers stationed themselves with their armored vehicles in front of the presidential palace in La Paz on Wednesday. After only a few hours, the rebel troops withdrew, and their general was arrested. Traveling Quebec CEGEP students told us about the agitation that reigned in the city.
Lucas Delgado-Lapointe and his five friends had just unpacked their bags in the apartment they had rented in La Paz on Wednesday afternoon when the owner of the building knocked on the door. “She told us to be careful going out because there was starting to be some action outside. That’s when we turned on the news and saw [what was happening],” said the young man, on the phone with La Presse.
With their eyes glued to the television, the students of the Saint-Laurent CEGEP saw Bolivian soldiers stationed in front of the presidential headquarters, which is one kilometer from their accommodation. “We could also hear gunshots and explosions coming from outside. You could see smoke out the window,” added Lucas Delgado-Lapointe.
Earlier, early in the afternoon, army units had advanced through the streets of La Paz in close ranks to Murillo Square, in front of the residence of President Luis Arce. Armored vehicles broke down the door of the palace, where General Juan José Zúñiga entered. “The armed forces are trying to restructure democracy, to make it a real democracy,” the general said.
“We imagined what would happen if it got worse, we looked for a way to get out of the city […], we tried to contact the embassy, which was closed and which did not help us”, lists Lucas Delgado-Lapointe. The six friends, aged 19 and 21, chose to follow the instructions set out on television and stay indoors.
In a video message, Luis Arce called on Bolivians to take to the streets to show support for his government. “We need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup, in favor of democracy,” declared the leftist president, surrounded by his ministers.
Saint-Laurent CEGEP students saw the extent of the mobilization when they went out to stock up on food in a nearby store. “The demonstrations made it difficult to move around, the streets were really congested,” says Angel Moreno Sanchez, one of the young travelers. “We could still hear explosions,” adds her friend Elizabeth Juliette Eberle-Sinatra.
Late in the afternoon, Luis Arce removed the rebel general and replaced him immediately. Rebel troops eventually retreated behind a line of military vehicles, ending the apparent coup attempt. Hundreds of Luis Arce supporters then rushed to the square in front of the palace, applauding and waving Bolivian flags. “Thank you to the Bolivian people,” the president said. Let democracy live. »
Juan José Zúñiga was apprehended and arrested on Wednesday evening while speaking to journalists outside a barracks in the capital. He was taken to the police station of the Special Crime Fighting Force (FELCC). The prosecution did not specify what charges the general will face.
Rumors that Juan José Zúñiga could be dismissed from his position had been circulating since Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse. Appointed commander of the Bolivian army in November 2022, the general is said to have exceeded his position by making statements against Evo Morales, the former leftist president of Bolivia.
In a television interview Monday, the army chief said he would arrest Morales if he decided to run again, after a court ruling determined he could no longer be a candidate. “Legally he is disqualified, he can no longer be president of this country,” Juan José Zúñiga said.
Once an ally of Luis Arce, Evo Morales is now his biggest political opponent ahead of the 2025 presidential election. The opposition between the two politicians has for months paralyzed the government’s efforts to address Bolivia’s severe economic crisis. Morales’s allies in Congress have repeatedly thwarted Luis Arce’s efforts to tackle the national debt.
Wednesday’s rebellion follows months of tension marked by increasingly loud protests to denounce the economic crisis. Analysts cited by the Associated Press fear unrest will explode in this historically turbulent nation of 12 million people.
