From La Paz, Bolivia
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce Catacora, confirmed this Thursday night that the three branches of the armed forces – army, navy and aviation – were involved and participated in the attempted coup d’état that occurred the day before yesterday and which, he revealed, left at least 14 people injured, some from gunshot wounds.
The exception was the police commander who informed Arce that he had been summoned by the army commanders to join the coup attempt, and that his decision was not to accompany those actions.
The president, in a press conference, gave a long narrative of the events that took place here, detailing how when the plot was underway and both he and the Minister of Defense, Edmundo Novillo, tried to communicate with the military commanders, they refused to answer. the calls.
“When we saw that around Plaza Murillo, where the people were gathered and were in confrontation with the armed forces using firearms, we went down and confronted those who were in charge, we faced them. There I instructed the three force commanders to stop those attitudes and General Zúñiga to withdraw the military forces. He responded that he was not going to obey my orders, I also confronted Vice Admiral Arnez (Naval), I asked him if he was in that attitude, he told me that he was not going to obey, I confronted General Zagala of the air force. At that moment it was clear that General Zúñiga and the three force commanders were in charge,” he narrated.
The Bolivian president also reported that “the chain of command was broken because the information (about what was happening) did not reach higher up, nor did the command in chief have knowledge of this, worse than the Ministry of Defense, clearly all the information was retained in the three heads of the commanders of the three forces; It must be said clearly, in a manner without consultation, the three forces were quartered, rules of all kinds have been violated.”
How the coup was prepared
Regarding the implementation of the seditious plan, he said that “there were two meetings, one on Tuesday and another on Wednesday at the General Staff, with the participation of those who made the decision to carry out and execute the plan. Not only were military personnel involved, but also retired members of the armed forces and also civilian personnel.”
“It cannot be that civilians are involved in this, that personnel who are in passive service are inciting the commanders or planning coups d’état with them, that is inconceivable and justice will make determinations,” he continued.
Another relevant aspect of his statements was when he admitted the deceptions to which his government was subjected by Zúñiga, and the failures of military counterintelligence, which would explain why the government was totally uninformed about the military movements and preparations that were taking place. They were brewing for months, but they were precipitated on Wednesday, when the other high-ranking officials began the coup attempt.
“Military intelligence worked for the army commander and never passed information to the Ministry of Defense, much less to the President of the State. Therefore, one of the central issues of why this was being covered up and did not come to light until yesterday (Wednesday), is because the intelligence area that should have been alerting did not take any action; furthermore, that is why we have more than 17 detainees in the army, because there are many people involved who hid and did not report the correct information,” he explained.
Contact with Evo
When asked if he had had communication in the last few hours with former President Evo Morales, with whom he maintains a deep political enmity, Arce said that he called him briefly to inform him of what was happening and to take precautions.
“We may have differences, the main one being that we believe that the political instrument belongs to social organizations and not to a particular person, it is a big difference that we have with comrade Evo; that does not mean that at this moment when we saw that the coup was coming, I instructed them to communicate with comrade Evo and I warned him that I was here giving myself away so that he could take his precautions, because it was clear that they were coming for me, but it was clear to me that they were going to go after Evo Morales. That is why, as a comrade, because in the end that is what we are, I called him to warn him and to take his precautions,” he explained.
The president said that the situation is normalized and under control, the new commanders of the three military branches are assuming their tasks, “we want to inform the population that everything has returned to normal.”
Arrests are made
On Thursday, the arrest of 17 people, most of them military personnel, was announced for their involvement in the attempt to overthrow the constitutional government, identified by intelligence work and police operations following the attempt.
The Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, appeared to point out that “we have previously had an intelligence report presented to the Public Ministry, which briefly and summarized what happened and since when this failed coup d’état was planned.” .
“We can show that there is an ideologue of the attempt to interrupt democracy, which dates back to statements made to the police, that this would have been planned since May,” he continued.
Del Castillo presented an organizational chart – “where not all the people who have participated are” – detailing the role and function of the 17 detainees and some fugitives. He explained that the conspirators were distributed in “preparation and planning” groups, led by the now imprisoned General Zúñiga along with the civilian Aníbal Abel Aguilar Gómez, “one of the most important pieces that would have contributed to the commission of the crimes, when he was (the day before yesterday) in Plaza Murillo” – in front of the government headquarters -, encouraging sedition.
Other groups would be those of “organization and coordination”, “exercise of force”, made up of those who manned the armored vehicles, among them the commanders of two regiments in the capital, on whom the consolidation of the coup depended.
One by one the detainees were paraded in front of the press, handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests, some with a defiant look, another shouting, but most with their heads down; while the mission of each one in the putsch was detailed.
It has been learned that another 13 retired military personnel are being sought.
Trying to understand
The day after the attempted coup passed with Bolivia trying to understand what had happened, in an environment dominated by speculation and theories about who motivated and/or induced General Juan José Zúñiga to his reckless adventure.
In the, this time, dense air of La Paz, located 3,650 meters above sea level, sensitive questions were raised that were pronounced strongly: what role could the total break between Arce and former president Evo Morales have had in what happened? , once close allies, today engaged in a fierce political dispute to the point of breaking up the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) party and proclaiming that there is no possibility of reconciliation; or some press and analysts did not hesitate to accuse the ruler of launching a “self-coup” in order to supposedly regain popular support for his weakened government, due to the poor economic circumstances that have generated multiple protests.
Those who reject this theory point out that Arce dismissed General Zúñiga the day before the uprising, which does not fit with launching a coup attempt induced by the president; and that it was he personally who came out from the Palacio Quemado to confront him, making him retreat.
*Of The Day from Mexico, especially for Page 12.
