Coup attempt in Bolivia: Army, armored vehicles again pass near Rashtrapati Bhavan

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia’s government palace on Wednesday in an apparent coup, even as President Luis Arce vowed to wake up the company and appointed a new military commander who ordered troops to leave the country. Ordered out sick.

The warriors retreated with a series of military vehicles as scores of Arce’s supporters gathered in the square outside the palace, waving Bolivian flags and cheering, calling for time out.

Arce, surrounded by ministers, waved to the crowd of supporters singing the national anthem. “Thank you to the Bolivian people,” he said. “Long live democracy.”

A few hours later, the Bolivian general who seemed to be behind the rebellion, Juan José Zúñiga, was arrested after the Attorney General opened an investigation against him. It was not immediately clear what the charges against him were.

Alternatively, shortly before his arrest Zúñiga claimed that Arce had requested him to take possession of the castle as a political exit. “The president told me: ‘The situation is very bad, very serious. It is necessary to prepare something to increase my popularity’,” Zuniga told Newshound.

Zuniga said he requested Arce if he would “have to take out the armored vehicles?” And Arce replied, “Take them out.”

Wednesday’s rise follows months of tension, fueled by financial despair and protests that have grown even more powerful as two political giants – Arce and his one-time best friend, leftist former President Evo Morales – vie for control of the ruling party. Fought for.

Nonetheless, the apparent aim of deposing the sitting president is believed to be lacking any significant help, or even as Arce’s opponents closed ranks to defend sovereignty and reject the rebellion.

The spectacle angered regional leaders and astonished Bolivians, unaware of the political unrest; Morales was removed from the presidency in 2019 after a previous political crisis.

As the crisis spread on Wednesday, army vehicles filled the plaza. Before the development of the federal government, General Commander of the Army Zuniga told reporters: “Certainly soon there will be a new cabinet of ministers; Our country, our state cannot run like this.” Despite this, Zuniga said that “for now,” he recognized Arce as the commander in chief.

Zuniga did not explicitly say he was going to stage a coup, but at the palace, with the sound of banging behind him, he said the military was trying to “restore democracy and free our political prisoners.”

Shortly afterward, Arce encountered Zuniga in a palace corridor, as video on Bolivian TV showed. “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your troops, and I will not allow this disobedience,” Arce demanded.

Surrounded by ministers in the palace, the Bolivian leader said: “Here we are determined to confront any coup attempt in the Casa Grande. “We need the Bolivian people to organize.” He said in a video message that he would “no longer allow coup attempts to once again take the lives of Bolivians.”

In the near future, Arce introduced the new chiefs of staff, army and air force amid a roar of supporters, and through them thanked the country’s police and regional allies for the situation. Arce said that the soldiers who stood up against him were “tainting the uniform” of the army.

Newly named Army Chief of Staff Jose Wilson Sanchez said, “I order them all to return to their units.” “Nobody wants the images we are seeing on the streets.”

Shortly thereafter, armored vehicles rolled out of the plaza, followed by scores of military combat troops, and police in riot gear set up a blockade outside the palace of the federal government.

The incident was mourned by other regional leaders, including the Group of American States; Gabriel Boric, President of neighboring Chile; Head of Honduras, and previous Bolivian leader. A US security official said the US was “closely monitoring” the situation in Bolivia and urged calm.

Protests have intensified in recent months as Bolivia, a country of 12 million families, plunged from the fastest-growing economy in the past 20 years to one of the most troubled.

The country has also steered clear of a high-profile rift at the top levels of the ruling party. Arce and his one-time best friend, leftist icon and former President Evo Morales, were fighting for Bolivia’s splintered Movement for Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS, for weeks ahead of elections in 2025. Is.

Following Wednesday’s chaos, reports from local media revealed Bolivians were stocking up on food and other essential items in supermarkets, all in preparation for what would then happen.

But in front of supporters outside the Presidential Palace, the country’s Vice President David Choquehuanca vowed: He would never allow a coup attempt to happen to the Bolivian family again.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico Town.

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Janetsky reported from Mexico Town.