There is great tension this Wednesday in Bolivia, where the Armed Forces (FF.AA) broke into the Presidential Palace, fanning out through the streets of Plaza Murillo de la Paz.
In this context, through his social networks, the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, accused “irregular mobilizations” of the Army of his country in that city.
However, as previously reported by La Razón, the actions of the Bolivian Armed Forces would be closely related to the controversial statements issued by the Army Commander General, Juan José Zúñiga, against Evo Morales.
During Tuesday, Zúñiga said that the Armed Forces would arrest the former president if he ran again as a candidate for the presidency of Bolivia..
“That man cannot be president of this country again. (…). Legally he is disqualified. The Constitution says that he cannot be (president) for more than two terms and the man has already been re-elected for three, four terms; The Armed Forces have the mission of enforcing the Political Constitution of the State“, stated the Army commander general.
By the Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS), this was seen as a direct threat towards Evo Morales.
After this, the president of the Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez, warned that a general should not refer to himself in that way, which is why he spoke of a possible restructuring of the Armed Forces, according to the aforementioned media.
“We are concerned about some actions by some elements of the Bolivian Police and Armed Forces, not only now, but since 2019. I think it is important that these two institutions definitively direct their horizon to fulfill their fundamental role, in accordance with the Constitution, (…) for a real restructuring or refoundation of these two institutions,” Rodríguez said early on Wednesday.
Alleged dismissal of Commander Zúñiga after statements
La Razón points out that Rodríguez questioned the Police, pointing to the “Boquerón Plan”, which – according to the accusation – had the objective of forcibly repressing the MAS mobilizations.
“The Bolivian Police is intended to provide internal citizen security; the Armed Forces, external security (…), but you don’t see that,” he criticized.
Following this, there was talk of Zúñiga’s possible dismissal as commander-in-chief of the Army. However, he said that he would continue in his duties, as there would be no official statement on the matter.
