A former military commander tries to give a coup in Bolivia and fails
- The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, has denounced the "irregular movements" that are taking place in the Army. A former commander has tried with several vehicles to occupy the Quemado Palace in La Paz, but no one has given him shelter and has finally been arrested.
The political situation is confusing in Bolivia since in 2019 former Senator Jeanine Áñez, with the help of the United States, gave the coup, which is now in prison. Bolivia has huge lithium reserves, which puts it at the centre of the economic interests of the global multinationals.
In 2020, elections were held again and once again the progressive party MAS (Moviento Al Socialism) won the elections, but both on the right and on the left, the internal divisions are many among the political forces, and this is demonstrated by what happened on Wednesday afternoon.
Former General Commander Juan José Zuñiga, who was dismissed last Tuesday, has tried to strike a coup with the demand for the release of "all political prisoners".
To this end, he has tried to occupy the seat of the president of the Plaza del Murillo de La Paz, the burnt Palace building, using his means of transport and subordinate soldiers. The door of the building has been opened with one of the vehicles involved, but seeing that it has not received any support, Zuñiga has gone down.
Bolivia today suffered the umpteenth U.S.-led coup, which has been trying for decades to make itself accessible from the country’s resources, including lithium.
A golfing part of the army surrounded the government palace... but the Bolivian people confronted them and the facts fled... pic.twitter.com/LPy0loNj7B
— Daniel Mayakovsky (@DaniMayakovsky) June 26, 2024
Bolivia's president, Luis Lucho Arce, has been the first to warn of the coup d'état that there were "irregular movements" of some armed groups and has called on citizens to "defend democracy".
The indigenous leader and former President Evo Morales has also denounced from the outset that the coup was being prepared and called on citizens to "mobilize nationally". For their part, the trade unions and the main confederations of farmers and workers in Bolivia have immediately called for a general strike.
Arce and Morales are from MAS but compete with each other – Morales wants to run for the 2025 election. The evista sector accuses the current Bolivian president of trying to give a "self-restraint".
In the face of Morales' call, a large group of people have come to the Plaza del Murillo to deal with the rebels, who have responded by throwing smoke boats. The president himself has come to the Quemado Palace to ask Zuñiga to withdraw from his office.
Arce has appointed new commanders of the Armed Forces and the new chiefs have finally ordered the military to return to headquarters. Zuñiga has been arrested later. Former commander Juan Arnez Salvador, who has been arrested by court order, has been arrested alongside him. Morales, for his part, rejected the call for mobilization, which he described as "irreproachable".
BREAKING: ?? Bolivia coup plotter, CIA-backed General Zuñiga EXHIBITED IN HANDCUFFS "We are going to make our country's democracy be respected, whatever it takes." pic.twitter.com/uLL4dmmxj0
— Megatron (@megatron_ron) June 27, 2024
The attempted coup d ' état has not been supported by any army or opposition group and has been rejected internationally from the outset by almost all countries, including the United States and Argentina.
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