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By Roberto Morejón
Investigations into the attempted military coup in Bolivia reinforce statements by President Luis Arce, who confronted the ringleader of the coup, that former army chief Juan José Zúñiga had accomplices.
In an interview with Russia Today, the president suggested that external factors, such as civilians and other military personnel, may have been close to the ousted army chief, advised him or whispered ideas to him.
More than twenty active military personnel, retired soldiers and civilians were initially arrested as part of the investigations by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Ministry into the attempted riot on June 26.
The fact that the three top former commanders of the Armed Forces, including General Zúñiga, are among those detained highlights the scope of the destabilizing plans.
According to Zúñiga, the conspiracy was born last May and the ideologue was Pastor Aníbal Aguilar, a member of the National Christian Council, who appeared in the media as an analyst.
Arce’s swift appointment of a new commander in the armed forces, his call to social organizations to mobilize in defense of democracy, and the international community’s support for the constitutional government contributed to the mutineers’ retreat.
This is not an easy task in a country with a long history of 39 successful or failed coups, which is why military sectors still believe in the viability of their intrusion into politics, prohibited by the Constitution.
Despite the first testimonies of the conspirators in the revolt and the statements offered by Arce about the hours spent in Plaza Murillo and Palacio Quemado, the mainstream press, right-wing forces and other people fed the legend that everything had been a setup by the dignitary to gain support.
The Head of State emphasized that Zúñiga acted on his own and tried to justify himself when he was arrested. Arce described it as outrageous that they wanted to involve him in a coup for personal reasons or perhaps something else.
The attempts to divert attention from the seriousness of the military attack on the management of the government, whose ministers Zúñiga sought to change, do not favor the unavoidable investigation.
An investigation that could also point to the hypothesis of whether external factors might be behind the rebels, with the interest of seizing Bolivia’s lithium, rare earths and water sources.
