The dismissed Army Commander General Bolivian Juan José Zúñiga and two other soldiers They were transferred this Saturday to the maximum security prison of Chonchocoro to serve preventive detention for the military uprising last Wednesday against the government of President Luis Arce.
The Police carried out a strong operation since noon this Saturday in the Special Force to Fight Crime (Felcc), in the center of La Paz, and 22 minutes later General Zúñiga was taken out of the cells handcuffed and with two guards. Before Zuñiga, the two other detained soldiers left, Juan Arnez and Alejandro Iraholawho were also sent to preventive detention.
The three were loaded into Bolivian Police vehicles and behind them were at least seven more vehicles. The convoy has to reach the La Paz plateau, where the Chonchocoro penitentiary is located, two hours from downtown La Paz.
The Bolivian Justice ordered on Friday six months of preventive detention against General Zúñiga, Vice Admiral Juan Arnez – head of the Navy (Navy) – and Commander Alejandro Irahola – head of the Army’s mechanized brigade. The three face charges of armed uprising and terrorism and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
“This preventive detention that the judge is ordering will undoubtedly set a precedent, and (is) a good sign for this investigation to continue moving forward.“said attorney Cesar Siles, who acts as the State’s attorney.
Siles said that he was present at the precautionary hearing and that the Prosecutor’s Office proved “the probability of authorship” of the crimes of terrorism and armed uprising. In addition, The risk of flight and obstruction of the three soldiers was establishedfacts that the Justice took into account to decide on preventive detention.
The Minister of Government (Interior), Eduardo del Castillo, and other government and police authorities arrived at the Felcc this Saturday to witness Zuñiga’s transfer. When the dismissed military officer was leaving in handcuffs, Del Castillo watched him from the first floor of the police station.
Zúñiga led a military action on Wednesday with which he said he sought to “change the Government Cabinet” and “reestablish” democracy in Bolivia. After arriving in a tank at the presidential palace, he had a face to face with President Arce, who ordered him to retreat and withdraw the tanks and the soldiers who supported him in the military invasion. After a few hours he was captured at the Army General Staff.
As of Friday, they had been arrested. 21 active, retired and civilian military personnel by the military rebellion of June 26, when troops with tanks besieged the presidential headquarters Palacio Quemado in La Paz for several hours before retreating.
In addition to Zúñiga, Irahola and Arnez, the following were also captured: General Marcelo Zegarra, head of the Air Forcewho will be presented before the judges in the next few hours.
The authorities detained the first two at the end of the military coup, while Zegarra was later arrested when he appeared before the prosecutor’s office with his two lawyers.
The government also highlighted the capture of Sergeant Alan Condori, who was driving the armored vehicle that tried to collapse one of the doors of the Quemado Palace in Murillo Plaza.
In the midst of the progress of the investigations and operations, the former Bolivian president Evo Morales On Friday, he questioned the government’s version of what happened in La Paz, despite the fact that he was one of the first to warn about the armed uprising from his account on the social network X.
“What kind of blow it will be then; The coup begins, happy ministers walking in Plaza Murillo, playing tanks; a coup d’état with zero injuries, zero shots, zero deaths,” Morales said at a press conference in the town of Sacaba, department of Cochabamba (center). “Let them investigate, sooner or later the investigation will tell“What happened,” added the former head of state surrounded by supporters.
Morales and Arce, who worked together during the three terms of the indigenous leader (2006-2019), are engaged in a fierce dispute over the flags of the ruling party in the face of the 2025 presidential elections. Despite being disqualified by justice Morales wants to run again, while Arce has not yet publicly said whether he will seek re-election.
The Bolivian president revealed on Thursday that he called Morales to warn him about the ongoing coup. “It was clear that they were coming for me, but it was clear to me that later they were going to go after Evo Morales,” Arce commented.
(With information from EFE and AFP)
