Center-left Bolivian President Luis Arce told Reuters on Friday that support on the streets had strengthened his government after a failed military coup just days ago and that he would continue working until his last day, in one of his first interviews since the dramatic attack.
The quiet economist became the focus of global attention on Wednesday when rebel military units took over La Paz’s central square and rammed a gate of the presidential palace with an armored vehicle to allow soldiers to rush inside.
“The support from the people in the streets and the international support we receive has strengthened us to be here again and continue our work,” said Arce, a student of Karl Marx credited with fueling Bolivia’s “economic miracles.” in the early 2000s as economy minister under iconic leader Evo Morales.
“For us, absolutely nothing has changed… We will continue working until the last day,” he said at the government headquarters in La Paz, the political capital of the highlands, where armed soldiers had stormed just a few metres away days earlier.
On Friday, the Bolivian Justice determined the preventive detention for former Army commander Juan José Zúñiga, accused of terrorism and armed uprising against the State.
