Bolivian President accused of plotting a coup against himself to increase popularity. Bolivia

Armored vehicles once circled Plaza Murillo – the center of ancient downtown L.A. It was the quietest central square. Paz – It starts with Bolivians lining up on the sidelines on Wednesday afternoon. As large numbers of soldiers marched on Rashtrapati Bhavan in the past few days, the sense of collective uncertainty and hurt was at an acute level.

By 2.30 p.m., a small tank was repeatedly hitting the gates of the neoclassical building called Palacio Quemado, until soldiers forced their way inside and, in an unusual scene, the leader of the coup – a disgruntled former military man. Major Juan José Zúñiga – Faced opposition to President Luis Arce.

Flanked by cabinet ministers and holding a ceremonial baton, a symbol of his rank as climate chief, the 60-year-old Arce ordered Zuniga to retreat, telling him: “I am your captain … right now all your troops Withdraw, General.”

The explosive makeover was filmed once and lasted several minutes. It ended when Zuniga left and left using the same broken door he had entered, and disappeared in a bulletproof military car that sped away.

It may be remembered as the shortest-lived attempted coup in two centuries of turmoil for the Andean people. It lasted only three hours, during which Arce “mobilized” the Bolivian people to defend the autonomy, seemingly quelling the rebellion in hand-to-hand combat and appointing a new military command. Ki, who ordered the rebel troops to return to their areas. Barrack.

The unrest surprised and appalled Bolivians.

However, once the situation began to normalize, rumors began to spread in the country of 12.5 million people, which, in addition to military dictatorships and revolutions, has seen about 190 coups since it won self-determination in 1825.

Just before he was taken into custody on Wednesday, alleged plotter Zuniga sowed the seeds of uncertainty, telling reporters — without providing evidence — that Arce had ordered him to stage a sham coup to boost the president’s flagging popularity.

The previous commander, who was reportedly close to the federal government, was dismissed shortly before the rebellion, according to Bolivia’s Minister of the Presidency, Eduardo del Castillo.

Zuniga’s comments have been seized on by the opposition, who have called for a parliamentary investigation into claims that Arce had attempted to hatch a conspiracy autogolpe (self-coup).

Alejandro Reyes, a lawmaker from the Civic Nation Bloc, advised Witness There are indications, evidence and statements that allow us to think that it (the coup) was pre-planned, and may even have involved the involvement of the executive.

In defense of Arce, legislator Daisy Choque of the ruling Motion Against Socialism (MAS) party warned that the coup would likely have succeeded “had it not been for the President, the ministers, and Bolivian society as a whole to immediately reject these actions.” She claimed that Zuniga’s words had negligible credibility because he had changed his story several times.

On Thursday, Arce strongly denied accusations that he was behind an attempted coup, declaring: “We will never allow anyone to take up arms against the people. What the former army commander general did (…) was to stand against the Bolivian people, to attack democracy, which cost the Bolivian people in blood. We are never going to do that. Never.”

On Friday, the federal government announced 20 additional arrests, including a former army vice-admiral. Bolivia’s ambassador to the Group of American States said that about 200 military officers took part in the coup attempt.

The last indecision is that Arce is presiding over a flailing financial system. Protests are growing amid declining fuel exports and declining foreign reserves, rising food prices and shortages of gasoline and US dollars, as well as deep divisions within his political party.

“Bolivia is going through multiple crises: political, economic, social and environmental, but above all institutional,” said Franklin Pareja, a political scientist at Bolivia’s San Andrés College. “The government is in a very weak position. There is no unity in his own party.”

Arce is embroiled in a sour power dispute with former President Evo Morales, who helped elect him in 2020. Arce, a UK-educated economist, served as Morales’ finance minister and was replaced by incoming MAS candidate Morales – the country’s longest-serving democratically elected leader. Elected chief – ousted in 2019 amid allegations of electoral fraud, which he denied.

Both men have mentioned that they plan to seek the presidency for MAS in the subsequent presidential election. Morales was among the first to condemn the apparent coup attempt.

However, in a video posted on Saturday via Bolivia TV A coup in which no one was injured, no shooting, no deaths.”

On the other hand, some of his supporters have joined the doubters. MAS vice president Gerardo García accused Arce of making “a mockery of the country” and being the “intellectual author” of a sham coup.

Rumors of a “self-coup” have “captured the popular imagination”, Pareja said, adding that sooner or later they are true, without context, and may even be dry enough to shake the arse. “If this backfires on him, the weakness and fragility of his government could deepen.”