Bolivia arrested two of its army leaders Wednesday after the nation quelled an tried coup to overthrow the federal government led by President Luis Arce.
The troops and tanks entered Plaza Murillo, a historic sq. the place the presidency and Congress are located, within the afternoon, prompting world condemnation of an assault on democracy.
One of the tanks tried to interrupt down a steel door of the presidential palace.
Surrounded by troopers and eight tanks, the now-dismissed military chief Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga mentioned the “armed forces intend to restructure democracy, to make it a true democracy and not one run by the same few people for 30, 40 years.”
AFP reporters noticed troopers and tanks pulling again from the sq. shortly after. The rebellion lasted about 5 hours.
Zuniga was captured and compelled right into a police automobile as he addressed reporters exterior a army barracks later Wednesday, footage on state tv confirmed.
“General, you are under arrest,” Deputy Interior Minister Jhonny Aguilera advised Zuniga.
A second senior army officer Juan Arnez Salvador, who was head of the Bolivian navy, was additionally arrested Wednesday evening.
Salvador’s arrest was introduced by Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo, who mentioned that Zuniga and Arnez are “two military coup leaders who tried to destroy democracy and the institutionality of our country and failed.”
Speaking from a balcony of the federal government palace, Arce advised a whole lot of supporters that “No one can take away the democracy we have won.”
He had urged “the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d’etat in favor of democracy,” in an earlier televised message to the nation alongside his ministers contained in the presidential palace.
He fired Zuniga and Salvador and swore in a brand new set of army leaders.
Before he was arrested, Zuniga advised reporters that the president had advised him to stage an rebellion with the intention to set off a crackdown that will make him look robust and enhance his sagging approval ranking.
At a gathering Sunday, the final mentioned Zuniga requested Arce “so we bring out armored vehicles?” He mentioned the president answered, “bring them out.”
Arce’s directions have been to “stage something to raise his popularity,” Zuniga mentioned.
Former President Evo Morales wrote on social media platform X that “a coup d’etat is brewing” and urged a “national mobilization to defend democracy.”
Anti-democratic remarks
Bolivia is deeply polarized after years of political instability and the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) celebration is riven by inner battle between supporters of Arce and his former mentor Morales.
Morales, who was Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, was extraordinarily well-liked till he tried to bypass the structure and search a fourth time period in workplace in 2019.
The leftist and former coca union chief received that vote however was pressured to resign amid lethal protests over alleged election fraud, and fled the nation.
He returned after Arce received the presidency in October 2020.
Since then an influence battle has grown between the 2 males and Morales has more and more criticized the federal government and accused it of corruption, tolerating drug trafficking, and sidelining him politically.
Six months in the past, the Constitutional Court disqualified Morales from the 2025 elections, nonetheless, he’s nonetheless looking for nomination because the MAS candidate.
Arce has not mentioned whether or not he’ll search re-election.
Zuniga appeared on tv Monday and mentioned he would arrest Morales if he insisted on operating for workplace once more in 2025.
“Legally he is disqualified, that man cannot be president of this country again,” he mentioned.
Since that interview, rumors have swirled that Zuniga was on the verge of being dismissed.
Calls for calm
The U.S. administration of Joe Biden mentioned it was preserving a detailed eye on occasions in Bolivia and “calls for calm,” in accordance with a spokesperson for the National Security Council.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned” by occasions in Bolivia and known as on all actors, together with the army, to “protect the constitutional order and to preserve a climate of peace,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric mentioned in an announcement.
Condemnations of the troop actions additionally poured in from throughout Latin America, with leaders of Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela calling for democracy to be revered.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X: “I am a lover of democracy and I want it to prevail throughout Latin America. We condemn any form of coup d’etat in Bolivia.”
The Organization of American States (OAS) mentioned the worldwide neighborhood would “not tolerate any form of breach of the legitimate constitutional order in Bolivia.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com