(La Paz) A second army chief was arrested on the night of Wednesday to Thursday in Bolivia after an aborted coup marked by the siege of the presidential palace.
Claiming to want to “restructure democracy,” General Juan José Zuniga, head of the army, and his men advanced Wednesday in tight ranks through the streets of La Paz to the presidential palace where they placed eight armored vehicles and threw tear gas at anyone trying to approach.
After several hours of occupation and an attempt to enter the building where President Luis Arce was, the general, in office since November 2022, withdrew with his troops to a barracks in the capital where he was arrested .
The arrest of a second military official, Juan Arnez Salvador, head of the Navy, was announced by the Minister of Government (Interior), Eduardo Del Castillo who castigated, during a press conference, “two putschist soldiers who wanted to destroy democracy.”
The two senior officers are being prosecuted for “armed uprising and terrorism”.
Before his arrest, General Zuniga had told journalists that he had acted on orders from the head of state who asked him on Sunday to “prepare something” to increase his popularity.
President Arce, a 60-year-old left-wing leader, in power since 2020 at the head of the Andean country, denounced Wednesday on the social network must be respected.”
According to AFP journalists on site, an armored vehicle tried to break down a metal door of the palace where General Zuniga entered briefly before coming out.
Surrounded by soldiers, the general said the armed forces were 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.”
Inside the palace, President Arce deposed the rebels and swore in a new command of the armed forces, according to images broadcast live on national television.
“We are facing an attempted coup d’état by soldiers who soil their uniforms,” denounced the president during the ceremony.
The military withdrew early in the evening. Mr Arce then stepped out onto the balcony of his palace to greet his supporters gathered in their hundreds in the square, saying: “No one can take away the democracy we have won.”
Former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) also affirmed on the social network
Since Tuesday, rumors of dismissal have been circulating about this senior officer after his statements targeting Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president and former ally of Mr. Arce who has now become his greatest political adversary in view of the 2025 presidential elections.
The soldier thus affirmed on television on Monday that he would arrest the former head of state if he persisted in running for president – even though the Constitutional Court banned him from doing so in December 2023.
After overstepping the Constitution to obtain a fourth term in 2019, Mr. Morales had to resign and temporarily flee the country amid social unrest and accusations of electoral fraud.
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, despite the decision of the Constitutional Court, the nomination on behalf of the MAS and accuses Luis Arce, who has not yet officially applied for candidacy, of corruption and tolerance towards drug trafficking.
Condemnations of General Zúñiga’s action on Wednesday poured in.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” and the Organization of American States (OAS) warned that “no violation of the constitutional order” in Bolivia would be tolerated.
The United States said it was monitoring the situation “closely” and called for calm. Russia “strongly” condemned the coup attempt. Spain called for “respect for democracy and the rule of law” in Bolivia.
The leaders of Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Colombia called for respect for democracy. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X: “I am a lover of democracy and I want it to prevail throughout Latin America.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced an attempted “coup d’état in Bolivia” orchestrated by “the far right with a military traitor”.
