‘Bolivia President staged coup to boost popularity’
Published on: Saturday, June 29, 2024
By: AFP
The military personnel are escorted by policemen following their arrest, accused of being accomplices of the now-dismissed army chief General Juan Jose Zuniga after the botched coup attempt, in La Paz. Inset Bolivian President Arce (left) and ex-army chief Zuniga.
LA PAZ: Bolivian President Luis Arce denied conspiring with his former army chief, who was arrested after deploying troops and tanks to the heart of the capital La Paz, where they tried to break down a door of the presidential palace.
Fourteen civilians who opposed the coup were wounded by gunfire, according to the authorities. Some had to be hospitalised and operated on, Luis Arce told the press.
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Authorities paraded handcuffed detainees in front of the media on Thursday, announcing 17 arrests including ex-army chief Juan Jose Zuniga, and riot police kept close watch over government buildings a day after the botched coup.
Tensions in the Andean nation have been rising in recent weeks over surging prices, shortages of dollars and fuel, and a feud between President Luis Arce and the powerful former president Evo Morales ahead of the 2025 election.
In his first public appearance since announcing the coup attempt was over Wednesday night, Arce denied he had conspired with Zuniga. The army chief claimed he was following orders and that the president had hoped to trigger a crackdown that would boost his popularity.
“How could one order or plan a coup on one’s self?” Arce told reporters.
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Flanked by soldiers and tanks outside the presidency, Zuniga said that “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.”
Shortly thereafter, the soldiers and tanks pulled back from the historic Plaza Murillo square and local television broadcast images of Zuniga’s arrest.
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Bolivia’s naval chief, Juan Arnez Salvador, was also arrested. The two men face up to 20 years in prison for the crimes of terrorism and armed uprising, prosecutors said.
Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo announced a total of 17 arrests, including active and retired military personnel and civilians, in connection with the attempted coup. Other suspects are still being sought.
The government broadcast a conversation between Arce and Zuniga at the doors of the presidential mansion, surrounded by military personnel, in which Arce ordered his army chief to withdraw his troops to their barracks.
Zuniga replied with a blunt “No,” but left the presidential palace a few minutes later.
“We are going to defend democracy and the will of the Bolivian people, whatever the cost!” the 60-year-old Arce wrote on social media platform X. He has since sworn in new military leaders.
The coup plot, however, took an unusual twist as Zuniga told reporters that Arce had ordered a staged uprising in order to trigger a crackdown that would make him look strong and “raise his popularity.”
“It is absolutely false,” said close presidential aide Maria Nela Prada.
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