02:34 PM
After the afternoon of anxiety that was experienced on Wednesday in Bolivia, after a group of soldiers broke into the presidential palace in the country’s capital, The arrests of the alleged perpetrators have already begun.
Dozens of soldiers arrived at Plaza Murillo, in La Paz, to carry out a coup d’état. With tanks they arrived at the place located in front of the Quemado Palace, headquarters of the Government, with the apparent intention of overthrowing President Luis Alberto Arce.
This group of soldiers, commanded by the recently dismissed general Juan José Zúñiga, wanted to break into the presidential palace. Zúñiga, a former general of the Bolivian Armed Forces, said that the soldiers intended to “restructuring democracy in Bolivia” and also demanded the release of imprisoned opponents.
After hours of tension, he and his entourage of soldiers withdrew from the building and left. Zúñiga began to speak and offered a press conference in which he indicated that since Monday he planned to take the war trucks to the streets and suggested that it was an order from President Luis Arce himself to increase the “popularity” of his government.
Just then, when the media was trying to gather more details, he was dragged into the back of a police car. “The president told me that the situation is very screwed, very critical and that something was necessary to raise his popularity. “Shall we take out the armored vehicles?” I told him, and he responded: “Take out,” Zúñiga said before being captured.
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At noon on Thursday, Bolivian Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo, indicated in a press conference that at least 17 Bolivian soldiers have been detained for their alleged involvement in the attempted coup d’état led by Zúñiga and the commander of the Navy, Juan Arnez Salvadorwho was also arrested.
Del Castillo said that all of them are in custody while the authorities continue trying to identify “the entire support network that was mobilized” in the context of the attempted military uprising. Zúñiga and his men took over Plaza Murillo and the Palacio Quemado, the former government building, on Wednesday afternoon and announced “a new Cabinet.” However, hours later, the commander was dismissed and the troops returned to their barracks.
Likewise, Del Castillo ruled out the participation of the Air Force in the coup attempt and confirmed that all troops are now under the control of the Bolivian State. He addressed the words of Zúñiga, who accused President Arce of using him to carry out a “self-coup”, and stated that the military man “lacks any credibility” in this matter. “We are going to dismantle this anti-democratic network,” declared Del Castillo, estimating that, if found guilty, the rebel soldiers could face sentences of between fifteen and thirty years in prison.
“This was supposedly planned since last May,” said Del Castillo, who added that three other suspects are being sought. According to Del Castillo, the plan to overthrow Arce “was led” by Zúñiga and Arnez. Both officers were accused of armed insurrection and terrorism, crimes for which they face a sentence of up to 20 years, according to the prosecution.
