Many Bolivians united in support of the president in the next failed coup attempt, despite the fact that some remained cautious

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Supporters of Bolivia’s president rallied outside his palace Thursday, giving the embattled chief some political relief as the government made additional arrests in the coup that has rocked the country. economically distressed country One date past.

The Bolivian government announced that 17 families of generals have been arrested for their alleged involvement in an attempted government takeover, including military chief of staff General Juan José Zúñiga and former military Vice Admiral Juan Arnaz Salvador. Was taken into custody shortly before the date.

The South American community of 12 million watched in shock and horror on Wednesday as military forces attacked the government of President Luis Arce, occupying the capital’s key intersection with armored cars, and repeatedly attacking a small Were crashing the tank. Release of tear gas on Rashtrapati Bhavan and protesters.

Senior Cabinet member Eduardo del Castillo did not elaborate on the other 15 families who were arrested Thursday, except to identify one civilian, Anibal Aguilar Gomez, as the “mastermind” of the failed coup. He said that the alleged conspirators had started plotting in May.

Risen police guarded the palace gates and Arce – who has struggled to control the country’s foreign currency and gas shortages – emerged on the presidential balcony to chastise Zuniga and claim that “no one can do anything to us.” Democracy cannot be taken away.”

Analysts say the increase of family backup for Arce, though fleeting, offers him an escape from the pastoral financial quagmire and political turmoil. The president is locked in a deep competition with his former best friend, popular former President Evo Morales, who has threatened to challenge Arce in the 2025 primaries.

“The president’s management has been very poor, no dollars, no petrol,” L. A. he said. Paz-based political analyst Paul Coca. “Yesterday’s military move will help his image some, but it is not a solution.”

Some protesters gathered outside the police station where the former army general was being detained, shouting that he should go to jail. “What Zuniga did is a shame,” said Dora Quispe, 47, one of the largest protesters. “We are in a democracy, not a dictatorship.”

Before his arrest on Wednesday, Zuniga alleged, without providing evidence, that Arce had ordered the coup attempt to boost the president’s reputation. A frenzy of speculation grew about what actually happened, and opposition senators and executive critics repeated the allegations, calling the rebellion a “self-coup” – a claim Arce’s government strongly denied.

In LA. Supporters in Paz’s main Plaza Murillo addressed Arce, shouting, “Lucho, you are not alone!” As the fireworks burst overhead. Lucho is a familiar nickname for Luis, also known as a Spanish verb meaning “to fight”.

Some Bolivians said they believed General Zuniga’s allegations on national TV that the coup attempt was a hoax.

“They are playing with people’s intelligence, because no one believes this was a real coup,” said lawyer Evaristo Mamani, 48.

Lawmakers and former officials, particularly those affiliated with Morales, strengthened the allegations. “It’s been a setup,” said Carlos Romero, a former expert on the Morales executive. “Zuniga followed the script exactly as he was ordered.”

Shortly after military maneuvers got underway, it became clear that any attempted takeover was denied vital political support. The riot ended bloodlessly by the end of the trading date. Arce named an unused military commander who ordered the troops to retreat.

Arce later dealt with the ill Zuniga, saying, “Here we are determined to confront any coup attempt at the Presidential Palace.” weight of supporters of the president On Wednesday evening, people flocked to the streets of the palace, singing a song made the national anthem and cheering for Arse.

US Deputy Secretary of State for Home Affairs Lavish Verma condemned Zuniga’s moves and said in a speech in Paraguay on Thursday that “democracy remains fragile in our hemisphere.”

The rapid uprising followed several months of rising tensions between Arce and Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Morales has made a dramatic political comeback since cluster protests and a crackdown prompted him to surrender and flee in 2019 — a military-backed ouster that his supporters see as a coup.

Morales has vowed to run against Arce in the 2025 elections, despite a Constitutional Court ruling that said he was ineligible because he had already served. The prospect of Morales reassigning has unsettled Arce, whose reputation has fallen as the country’s foreign exchange reserves have dwindled, its herbal gasoline exports have declined and its foreign exchange peg to the US dollar has collapsed. Has gone.

Morales’s allies in Congress have made management virtually unattainable for Arce. The lack of money has given Arce the power to eliminate food and gas subsidies, putting pressure on state funds, a sharp development ahead of the election.

Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said Wednesday’s turmoil had its roots in a private meeting on Tuesday in which Arce spared military chief Zuniga an ultimatum to arrest Morales if he proceeded in the 2025 race. A warning was given. Arce has also denied the legitimacy of Morales’ presidential bid.

Novillo said that in their meeting Zuniga denied to officials that he was preparing to seize power.

He said of Zuniga, “He admitted that he had committed some excesses.” “We hugged and said goodbye in the friendliest way. Zuniga said he would always be at the president’s side.

In the next few hours L.A. Panic spread in the capital. Paz. With the help of armored cars and supporters, Zúñiga was taken to the executive headquarters and announced that the militia was seeking to “restore Bolivia’s democracy”.

The influx of squads sent Bolivians into a frenzy, crowding ATMs, forming queues outside petrol pumps and ransacking grocery stores. Through a dependency, Bolivia has More than 190 coup attempts and revolutions since its 1825 sovereignty.

The country’s fragmented opposition did not welcome the coup, as it quickly became clear that it had failed. Former president Jeanine Añez, detained for her role in ousting Morales from power in 2019, said the squad wanted to “destroy the constitutional order” but called on both Arce and Morales not to run in the 2025 elections. of.

Despite the fact that it was confirmed, allegations of Arce’s involvement created hesitation and threatened additional chaos. Santa Cruz Governor Luis Fernando Camacho, who was also detained in 2019 on charges of plotting a coup, demanded answers.

As General Zuniga says, “Was this a media spectacle perpetrated by the government itself?” Was this just some military madness? Was this just another example of lack of control?” he wrote on social media platform X.

Zuniga’s decision came as a blow, telling reporters that Arce told him to immediately storm the palace and attack Downtown L.A. Had requested to bring armored vehicles. Paz.

“The president told me: ‘The situation is very bad, very serious. It is necessary to prepare something to increase my popularity,'” Zuniga alleged the Bolivian premier had instructed him.

Bolivian officials have insisted that overall lies were being told to justify their movements. Prosecutors said they would seek a maximum sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison for Zuniga on charges of “assaulting the Constitution.”

Political professionals have struggled to understand the explanation for Wednesday’s turmoil.

“This is the strangest attempted coup I have ever seen,” said Catherine Ledebur, director of the Andean Data Network, a Bolivia-based research group. “Bolivian democracy remains very fragile, and certainly more fragile today than yesterday.”

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Debré reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.