The attempted military coup in Bolivia ended with the arrest of its organizer, General Juan Jose Zuniga, and the military units sent by him against the presidential palace in the capital, La Paz, withdrew from the central Murillo Square, Reuters reported.
The South American country’s president, Luis Arce, denounced the “coup attempt” and called for international support.
First last night, military units, led by General Zuniga, who had been removed from the post of the Bolivian army commander in the meantime, gathered in Murillo square, where the residence of the head of state is located.
Eyewitnesses told Reuters that a tank had broken through the gate of the presidential palace and soldiers had stormed inside.
“Today, the country is facing an attempted coup d’état. Today, once again, the country is facing interests that stand above democracy”stated Ares from the presidential palace while he was attacked by military personnel.
“The Bolivian people are called to act today. We need Bolivians to organize and mobilize against the coup d’état in the service of democracy”Arce also stated.
A few hours later, according to information from a Reuters associate, the military had withdrawn from Murillo Square and the police had established full control over the situation. Bolivian authorities arrested Zuniga and took him to an unknown location, Reuters noted.
At that time, President Arce appointed José Wilson Sánchez as Commander-in-Chief of the Bolivian Army in Zuniga’s place. He called for calm and the restoration of order.
“I order those servicemen who were mobilized in the streets to return to their units. We ask that the blood of our servicemen not be shed”he said Sanchez.
The US said it was closely monitoring the situation and called for calm and non-violence.
Tensions are rising in Bolivia ahead of next year’s national elections, with left-leaning former president Evo Morales set to run against former ally Arce, Reuters reports.
Morales is sowing disunity in the ruling socialist party and generally creating instability in the country, the agency points out.
Zuniga recently announced that Morales would not be able to return to the presidency and vowed to stop him. Before the storming of the presidential palace, the general addressed representatives of the media.
“Stop destroying the country, stop driving the people into poverty, stop humiliating the army”, the general addressed the rulers. He promised to release all political prisoners, including Bolivia’s acting interim president Jenine Anes, who was convicted of carrying out a coup d’état.
Afterwards, Bolivian Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo said that Zuniga had sought public support and that the fact that there were nine wounded during the riot was proof that what happened “wasn’t a drill”.
The Bolivian prosecutor’s office announced that it had opened an investigation against Zuniga and his accomplices.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the coup attempt in Bolivia. President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora has our full support”wrote on the social platform “X” the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obradorwho is about to hand over the post to the newly elected Head of State, Claudia Sheinbaum.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen in turn condemned the Bolivian military, who tried to overthrow the country’s democratically elected president, DPA reported. “I strongly condemn the attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Bolivia”written by Von der Leyen in Ex.
“The European Union stands behind democracies. We express our strong support for the constitutional order and the rule of law in Bolivia”said in turn on the social network the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell, expressed the same position.
According to BTA
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