LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup attempt, but President Luis Arce vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down.
June 26, 2024
2 min read
Tear gas is fired by military troops outside the Quemado Palace at Plaza Murillo in La Paz on June 26, 2024. Bolivian President Luis Arce on Wednesday denounced the unauthorized gathering of soldiers and tanks outside government buildings in the capital La Paz, saying “democracy must be respected.”
AIZAR RALDES/AFP via Getty Images
By Paola Flores And Megan Janetsky The Associated Press
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup attempt, but President Luis Arce vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down.
The soldiers pulled back behind a line of military vehicles, as hundreds of Arce’s supporters rushed the square outside the palace, waving Bolivian flags and cheering. Arce, surrounded by ministers, waved at the crowd as they sang the national anthem. “Thank you to the Bolivian people,” he said. “ Let democracy live on.”
Hours later, the Bolivian general who appeared to be behind the rebellion, Juan José Zúñiga, was arrested after the attorney general opened an investigation. It wasn’t immediately clear what the charges were against him.
However, shortly before his arrest Zúñiga claimed Arce asked him to storm the palace in a political move. “The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity’,” Zúñiga told reporters. Zúñiga sajd he asked Arce if he should “take out the armored vehicles?” and Arce replied, “Take them out.”
Wednesday’s rebellion followed months of tensions, with economic hardship and protests growing ever stronger as two political titans — Arce and his one-time ally, leftist former President Evo Morales — battled for control of the ruling party.
More:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/americas/military-flees-bolivia-government-palace-after-coup-attempt-fails-general-taken-into-custody/article_1f2190f3-9979-51b1-a8ae-93fe9564e46c.html
(my bolding)
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