General Juan José Zúñiga, head of the Army, said today that together with three commanders he came to take the presidential house and change the Cabinet, while the military gassed the population concentrated around Plaza Murillo.
At this moment the military are entering the Casa Grande del Pueblo (government headquarters) dressed in combat uniforms.
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, today denounced irregular movements of members of the Army, given the unusual presence of soldiers who closed the political epicenter of La Paz, Plaza Murillo.
«We denounce irregular mobilizations of some units of the Bolivian Army. “Democracy must be respected,” the dignitary wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter).
The chancellor, Celinda Sosa, spoke in the same sense, with a call to the international community in the face of the coup attempt and requesting international condemnation.
The state-run channel Bolivia TV showed how the Military Police with riot shields prevented the free movement of people, and how they tear-gassed civilians who tried to approach the Casa Grande del Pueblo (government headquarters).
Previously, former president Evo Morales denounced this Wednesday an alleged “garrisoning” of the Armed Forces.
«For an hour now, division commanders have been instructing regiment commanders to immediately return to their barracks to await new dispositions (quartering).
“This raises many suspicions of the military movement in Bolivia,” he wrote on his X account.
The population begins to mobilize towards Plaza Murillo with slogans in defense of democracy.
The Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prada, denounced on the state channel that the troops took all the corners of the Casa Grande del Pueblo, the Chancellery and the Legislative Assembly.
He indicated that apparently it is General Zúñiga’s response after his dismissal today for issuing deliberative statements in the political sense, which constitutes a break in the constitutional order.
(news in development)
