Bolivia coup attempt fails after military assault on presidential palace
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LA PAZ – Bolivian armed forces pulled back from the presidential palace in La Paz on the evening of June 26 and a general was arrested after President Luis Arce slammed a “coup” attempt against the government and called for international support.
Earlier in the day, military units led by General Juan Jose Zuniga, recently stripped of his military command, gathered in the central Plaza Murillo square, home to the presidential palace and Congress. A Reuters witness saw an armoured vehicle ram a door of the presidential palace and soldiers rush in.
“Today the country is facing an attempted coup d’etat. Today the country faces once again interests so that democracy in Bolivia is cut short,” Mr Arce said in comments from the presidential palace, with armed soldiers outside.
“The Bolivian people are summoned today. We need the Bolivian people to organise and mobilise against the coup d’etat in favour of democracy.”
A few hours later, a Reuters witness saw soldiers withdrawing from the square and police taking control of the plaza. Bolivian authorities arrested Mr Zuniga and took him away, though their destination was unclear.
Inside the presidential palace, Mr Arce swore in Mr Jose Wilson Sanchez as the military commander, Mr Zuniga’s former role. He called for calm and order to be restored.
“I order that all personnel mobilised on the streets return to their units,” Mr Sanchez said. “We entreat that the blood of our soldiers not be spilled.”
The United States said it was closely monitoring the situation, and urged calm and restraint.
Tensions have been building in Bolivia ahead of its general election in 2025, with leftist former president Evo Morales planning to run against former ally Mr Arce, creating a major rift in the ruling socialist party and wider political uncertainty.
Many do not want a return of Mr Morales, who governed from 2006 to 2019 when he was ousted amid widespread protests and replaced by an interim conservative government. Mr Arce then won the election in 2020.
Mr Zuniga said recently that Mr Morales should not be able to return as president and threatened to block him if he attempted to, which led Mr Arce to remove him from his post.
A soldier in an armoured vehicle is deployed outside the Quemado Palace in La Paz.
PHOTO: AFP
Ahead of the attack on the presidential palace, Mr Zuniga addressed reporters in the square and cited growing anger in the landlocked country, which has been battling an economic slump with depleted central bank reserves and pressure on the boliviano currency as gas exports dried up.
“The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express our dismay. There will be a new Cabinet of ministers, surely things will change, but our country cannot continue like this any longer,” Mr Zuniga told a local TV station.
“Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army,” he said in full uniform, flanked by soldiers, insisting the action being taken was supported by the public.
Mr Zuniga told reporters later on June 26 that Mr Arce had on June 23 asked him to “raise something up” to boost his popularity, without offering evidence.
Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo later said Mr Zuniga was seeking to court popular support and that the nine people injured in the attempt proved “this was not a drill”.
Bolivian President Luis Arce denounced the “irregular mobilisation” of some army units in La Paz.
PHOTO: REUTERS
‘Strongest condemnation’
Mr Morales, head of the ruling MAS socialist party, said that his supporters would mobilise in support of democracy.
He accused Mr Zuniga of seeking to stage a coup and announced a general work stoppage, including a call to block roadways.
“We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people,” Mr Morales said.
Meanwhile, Bolivia’s public prosecutor’s office said it would launch a criminal investigation into Mr Zuniga and others involved in the attempted coup.
Public support for Mr Arce and Bolivia’s democracy has poured in from regional leaders and beyond.
“We express the strongest condemnation of the attempted coup d’etat in Bolivia. Our total support and support for President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on X.
Even conservative political opponents in Bolivia, including jailed former president Jeanine Anez, strongly condemned the military action.
“I fully reject of the mobilisation of the military in the Plaza Murillo attempting to destroy constitutional order,” she wrote on X.
“The MAS with Arce and Evo must be got out through the vote in 2025. We Bolivians will defend democracy.” REUTERS
