Peace/Bolivian President Luis Arce described at a press conference on Thursday how he experienced the hours in which the “attempted coup d’état” led by the ousted military chief Juan José Zúñiga took place.
The Bolivian president said in the House of the People, headquarters of the Executive, that at 12:00 on Wednesday he received the first information of “irregular military” movements, when he was at an event for the anniversary of the Single Trade Union Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia (Csutcb).
“In the middle of the event, we received an urgent communication from the Minister of Defense (Edmundo Novillo) (…). And he sent me his concern because the Army commander (Zúñiga) was not receiving the phone calls,” Arce said.
Novillo told him that he had information that military units were coming from Challapata and were approaching La Paz, without any instructions.
Arce added that the High Command of the Armed Forces also did not receive responses from Zúñiga or from the other two force commanders.
Arce added that the High Command of the Armed Forces also received no responses from Zúñiga or from the other two force commanders: Marcelo Zegarra (Air Force) and Juan Arnez (Navy).
“Once the ceremony was over, it was time to come down from the city of El Alto (next to La Paz), and we tried to communicate, in person, with the Army commander. We have not received a response either, we even sent messages…”, recalled the president.
He said that military intelligence “failed” before the movements in Plaza Murillo, because someone “was working for General Juan José Zúñiga (…) information was hidden, the information did not arrive.”
Already at the Executive headquarters, Arce met with the vice president, David Choquehuanca, and asked him to evaluate the situation. At that time the Minister of Defense provided them with more details.
“When we began to evaluate with the Minister of the Presidency (María Nela Prada) and the vice president is when we heard the sirens,” he narrated. Prada informed him that “Army tanks” were going down one of the streets near the Executive Center and “taking the corners of Plaza Murillo.”
“We have contacted all our ministers so that they can come to the Casa Grande to assess the situation,” Arce said.
“We contacted all our ministers so that they could come to the Casa Grande to evaluate the situation”
The president said: “The Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, tried to speak with the person in charge of that operation, he could not get in touch, he got in and informed us that General Zúñiga and Admiral Arnez were in one of the vehicles.”
For his part, the commander of the Bolivian Police, Alvaro Álvarez, “informed him that he had been summoned by these commanders to join this coup attempt,” but he refused.
The president said that when he saw a military tank trying to knock down the door of the Palacio Quemado and enter, he decided to get out and confront those who led those actions.
While the president went down to the door of the Executive headquarters, the Bolivian Workers’ Central (COB) called for an indefinite strike and road blockade to defend democracy.
Arce said that at that time “the population” had already arrived at Plaza Murillo and was “confronting” the soldiers who were using “firearms.”
The Bolivian president asked to be given the baton of command, which characterizes the captain general of the Armed Forces.
“I instructed the three force commanders to stop these behaviors and I instructed General Zúñiga to immediately withdraw all the military forces he had mobilized,” he said. According to Arce’s account, Zúñiga responded that he was not going to obey his orders, “despite the fact that I showed him in my left hand the baton of command that accredits me as captain general of the Armed Forces.”
Zúñiga replied that he was not going to obey his orders, “despite the fact that I showed him in my left hand the baton of command that accredits me as captain general of the Armed Forces.”
He also reprimanded Arnez of the Navy, who also told him that he would not obey his orders. He then confronted Zegarra, of the Air Force. “He hesitated and I insisted that he think about it and see the consequences that could come.”
In the middle of that discussion, both Zúñiga and Arnez left the palace. In those moments, he said, it was clear that they had to change the three commanders.
Minutes later, Arce swore in the new commanders of the three forces. Zúñiga retreated after this and moments later was captured by the Police along with 16 other soldiers, who are now being prosecuted for attempting a “coup d’état.”
On the other hand, Arce rejected Zúñiga’s accusations and said that he is not “a politician who wants to gain popularity with the blood of the people.”
The president reiterated at the press conference that “(Zúñiga) acted on his own.” “We were never informed of what he intended.”
“If he is not following my instructions, he is disobeying the orders of his general commander (…) how could a self-coup be planned?” said the Bolivian president.
Arce added that 14 people were injured by Zúñiga’s followers and that some had to undergo surgery. “We saw people mobilized without weapons and they were shot,” he said.
Arce also clarified that he called Evo Morales to warn him of the “attempted coup d’état” and added that, despite their differences, they remain “comrades.”
“We may have our differences, (…) but I contacted him so that he could take his precautions,” said Arce. “It was a very short communication, we had to organize ourselves.”
“We may have our differences, (…) but I contacted him to take precautions,” said Arce. “It was a very short communication, we had to organize ourselves,” he said.
Luis Arce said that the main difference between him and former President Evo Morales (2006-2019) is the way they view the ruling party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). “The organization belongs to the social instrument and not to a person,” said Arce.
Arce and Morales have been estranged since late 2021 and their differences deepened last year due to the holding of a national party congress in which, in the absence of the president and his loyal sectors, the former president was ratified as leader of the MAS and named “sole candidate” for the 2025 elections.
The president did not attend the meeting, considering that social organizations, the base of the party, were not well represented. In recent months, Morales has called Arce “the worst president in the history of the country,” while the president described Morales as “his main opponent.”
