Bolivia: President Arce denounces an attempted “coup d’état” by his country’s army while soldiers are deployed in the center of La Paz

The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, denounced this Wednesday an attempted “coup d’état” by the country’s military forces.

“We are firm to confront any coup attempt,” he said in a televised message surrounded by members of his cabinet.

Minutes before, Arce had said in a message on X that there were “irregular mobilizations of some units of the Bolivian Army.”

“Democracy must be respected,” he wrote.

Local media showed images of troops deployed in Plaza Murillo from La Paz, where the seat of government is located. The Bolivia TV station reported the entry of soldiers into the government palace.

The minister of the presidency, María Nela Prada, said that it was “an attempted coup d’état.”

“Plaza Murillo is taken by military tanks and military troops. We understand that it is a faction of the Army that has mobilized,” he said in a video published on social networks.

General Juan José Zúñiga, who until Tuesday was head of the Army before being dismissed, declared to the press that there is a “mobilization of all military units” due to “the situation in the country.”

Zúñiga declared to the press in Plaza Murillo, in front of the Palacio Quemado, headquarters of the Executive, that the mobilization seeks to express his annoyance “about the situation in the country.”

“Enough already. There cannot be this disloyalty“, he noted, ensuring that he continues to obey President Luis Arce “for now.”

For his part, former president Evo Morales said that “a coup d’état is brewing”.

“At this moment, Armed Forces personnel and tanks are being deployed in Plaza Murillo. They have called an emergency meeting at the Army General Staff in Miraflores at 3:00 pm in combat uniforms,” ​​he wrote in X.

He accompanied his message with a video in which a column of military personnel, in anti-riot equipment, could be seen walking down a street.

Given the latest events, the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagrosaid that he condemned “in the most energetic way” what was happening in the South American country.

“The Army must submit to civil power legitimately elected. We send our solidarity to the President of Bolivia Luis Arce Catacora, his government and all the Bolivian people,” said Almagro.

“The international community, the OAS and the General Secretariat will not tolerate any breach of the legitimate constitutional order in Bolivia or anywhere else,” he added.

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