The president of Bolivia Luis Arce denounced a military uprising in the country. He announced it in a message on his X account: “We denounce irregular mobilizations of some units of the Bolivian Army. Democracy must be respected”. Later, he called on the people to organize and mobilize against this “coup d’état” and “in favor of democracy.”
The attempted uprising denounced by Arce occurs hours after the Government again confronted the commander of the Bolivian Army, Juan Jose Zunigawho has been criticizing Evo Morales for weeks for his attempt to return to the presidency in the next elections.
This Monday, in television statements, Zúñiga had said that Morales “cannot be president of this country anymore” and warned that “If necessary” I would not allow him to “trample the Constitution, to disobey the mandate of the people” and added, in that sense, that The Armed Forces “are the armed arm of the people, the armed arm of the country”. For his part, the former President had accused him of leading the Pachajcho military group, which supposedly I would hatch a plan against him.
Thus, last Sunday he claimed to have videos and audios that show that the Commander seeks his elimination and that of his main collaborators, although he did not provide evidence of this.
As a result of these crossings, sources close to the President told Infobae that Morales asked Arce put aside the internal ones that have kept them at odds for years and to dismiss the militarywhat The president actually called him to a meeting in which he removed from office. However, Zúñiga denied the rumorsassured that he would continue working as usual and, according to this source, he even met with some officers at 4 in the morning to tell them that he would not leave his position.
“Lucho is not behind the Coup“, the source assured Infobae.
This Wednesday, the soldier – following his decision not to retire – attended an official event and at the end of this meeting, led some units who approached Plaza Murillo, in La Paz, where the Government headquarters operates. According to Bolivian media reports, Arce is in the administration building.
After a first advance of some units, Zúñiga threatened to “take” the headquarters of the Executive. A few minutes later, and after entering and leaving the Government headquarters, Zúñiga announced that he would leave Plaza Murillo.
“They want the Armed Forces to not exist, They want freedom in this country to do whatever they want. (…) they use needy people so that in their name they aim to come to power and loot. Today, The Army is mobilized, in emergency, garrisoned… we respond to the clamor of the people. The people ask for enough of looting, enough of outrages (…) “The Armed Forces are here for their people.”he said on the site and announced that “surely there will be a new cabinet soon.”
On the other hand, he argued that will release political prisoners in the country, including the former interim president Jeanine Añezwho has been detained for three years in the context of the “Coup d’état II” case, for which she was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and the governor of the province of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camachoin his case for the “Coup d’état I” case, which investigates the events that arose in the 2019 crisis that led to the resignation of then-president Evo Morales, accused of electoral fraud.
In any case, Áñez spoke out against this uprising, which seeks to “destroy the constitutional order” and maintained that “the MAS with Arce and Evo must leave through the vote in 2025.”
However, a few hours later, Arce led an event in which he formally removed Zúñiga from his position and appointed in his place Jose Wilson Sanchez Velasquezwho until today was commander general. “We deplore the attitudes of bad soldiers who, unfortunately, repeat history, trying to carry out a coup d’état when The Bolivian people have always been a democratic people“, Arce said and assured that He remains firm with his cabinet, the people and “the good soldiers, who know how to respect the Constitution”.
“We will respect the democracy won with the vote of the Bolivian people at the polls”he promised while those present chanted “The people united will never be defeated”, “I fight you are not alone” and “Evo and Arce yes, dictatorship no.” “All Bolivians, together, are going to defeat any coup attempt,” he added.
Likewise, the president went out to the balcony to greet the people who had approached the square, while the State Attorney General’s Office ratified the defense of democracy and ordered a criminal proceeding against the now former Chief of the Army and those who assisted him in his actions. .
María Nela Prada, Minister of the Presidency, recorded a message from the Government Palace while the mobilization was taking place: “I want to denounce an attempted coup d’état. Murillo Square is taken by a faction of the Army that has mobilized. They are also outside the Legislative Assembly and do not allow entry.”
The former Bolivian president, Evo Morales, also assured shortly after the first images were known that “the Coup d’état is brewing. At this time, personnel from the Armed Forces and tanks are deployed in Plaza Murillo. They called an emergency meeting at 3:00 pm at the Army General Staff in Miraflores with combat uniforms. “We call on the social movements of the countryside and the city to defend democracy.”
“We call for a National Mobilization to defend Democracy against the coup d’état that is being planned by General Zuñiga. We declare an indefinite general strike and road blockades. We will not allow the Armed Forces to violate democracy and intimidate the people,” added Morales.
Meanwhile, the head of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, said that his office “condemns in the most forceful way the events in #Bolivia. The Army must submit to the legitimately elected civil power. We send our solidarity to the President of #Bolivia Luis Arce Catacora, his Government and all the Bolivian people. The international community, the OAS and the General Secretariat will not tolerate any breach of the legitimate constitutional order in #Bolivia or anywhere else.”
Also, during the meeting that the organization is developing in Paraguay, the country’s representative, Hector Arcewarned that it is an “emergency situation” and asked to address the fact “with due responsibility and seriousness.” “We did not have military coups in Latin America more than 40 years ago (…) It is an ostensibly violent act and contrary to the constitutional order (…) Democracy, republican institutions and the rule of law must always be defended in all international instances.”, he added.
“We denounce that a Group of the Challapata Special Regiment ‘Mendez Arcos’ took the Plaza Murillo with snipers. This seems to indicate that they prepared the Coup d’état in advance. I ask the people with a democratic vocation to defend the Homeland from some military groups that act against democracy and the people,” Morales added.
For his part, the vice president David Choquehuanca He also referred to the event on social networks: “We denounce to the International community that in Bolivia there is a Coup d’état against our democratically elected Government.”
The chancellor Celinda Sosa He also recorded a video from the ministerial headquarters and repudiated the “irregular mobilizations of some units of the Bolivian army that threaten peace. We call for respect for democratic values.”
The EU He also added his condemnation of “any attempt to break the constitutional order in Bolivia and overthrow democratically elected governments” and extended his solidarity to Arce and the people. For her part, Xiomara Castro, who maintains the pro tempore presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), called an emergency meeting in response to the events.
Uruguay, Paraguay and Chili They were also quick to repudiate the “irregular mobilizations” of the Armed Forces and called for respect for the rule of law in the nation, just as they did USAwhich said it was closely monitoring the situation and urged calm and moderation.
(With information from AFP, EFE and Reuters)
