Military troops and tanks deployed this Wednesday in front of the Bolivian government headquarters in La Paz and tried to knock down a door of the presidential palace, AFP journalists confirmed.
Tanks and troops occupied Plaza Murillo, in the center of the Bolivian capital, where the presidential headquarters is located. A tank attempted to knock down a metal door of the presidential palace, which General Juan José Zúñiga, commander of the Army, later entered. According to Bolivian television, the officer entered the building for a few moments before walking out.
At the moment it is unknown if President Luis Arce is there. “We denounce irregular mobilizations of some units of the Bolivian Army. Democracy must be respected,” President Arce wrote on his social network X.
“The coup d’état is brewing. At this moment, personnel from the Armed Forces and tanks are deployed in Plaza Murillo,” denounced former president Evo Morales. “We call for a National Mobilization to defend Democracy against the coup d’état that is brewing at the head” of General Zúñiga, he added.
Rumors have been circulating since Tuesday about the probable dismissal of the officer, in office since November 2022, following statements against Morales, once an ally of Arce and today his greatest political adversary. In an interview on Monday with a television channel, the head of the Army assured that he would arrest Morales if he insists on running for president in the 2025 elections, despite the fact that he was disqualified by the electoral justice system. “Legally he is disqualified, that man can no longer be president of this country,” Zúñiga said.
