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The coup attempt lasted just over three hours and threw Bolivia into chaos on Wednesday afternoon. What disrupted the plot led by the now former Army commander, Juan José Zuñiga, was the appointment of new military leaders. As soon as he was appointed, General Jose Wilson Sanchez Velasquez ordered all soldiers to immediately return to the barracks and “avoid bloodshed”
Once the coup in Bolivia fails, the military demobilizes
The coup attempt lasted just over three hours, throwing Bolivia into chaos in the afternoon. What disrupted the plot led by the now former Army commander, Juan José Zuñiga, was the appointment of new military leaders. As soon as he was appointed, General Jose Wilson Sanchez Velasquez ordered all soldiers to immediately return to the barracks and “avoid bloodshed”. The response was almost immediate. The soldiers who had raided the government palace in the afternoon, occupying Murillo Square, while President Luis Arce was meeting with the entire cabinet, retreated following orders. And Zuniga himself was seen leaving the square on board a tank, while the people sang the national anthem. At the height of tension, in mid-afternoon, while President Luis Arce appeared in a live broadcast in the People’s Palace with his entire cabinet determined to resist the coup attempt, troops under Zuñiga’s command stormed the building with an armored vehicle forcing the main door of the building. A few minutes and the former commander – dismissed yesterday after publicly threatening former president Evo Morales – returned to the streets to ask for the resignation of Arce and his executive, and announce to the media the appointment of a new government and the release of all political prisoners. Meanwhile, Morales called for a strike and mobilization, denouncing: “the coup d’état was prepared in advance.” The reactions at an international level were immediate, starting from the EU High Representative Josep Borrell who “condemned any attempt to upset the constitutional order and to overthrow democratically elected governments”. Also on the field was the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who “sent support and solidarity to the government of Bolivia and its people”. Voices of repudiation also arose loudly from the region, from Cuba to Brazil, from Nicaragua to Venezuela. Foreign Minister Antonio “Tajani followed the evolution” of events. And the Farnesina also monitored the situation “with the Crisis Unit and the Italian Embassy in Bolivia”.
Bolivia: General Zuniga arrested after coup attempt
Former army commander General Juan José Zúñiga was arrested after the coup attempt against Bolivian President Luis Arce. The local media reported it. After the attempted coup, Zuniga was accused of terrorism and armed revolt against the state. At the time of his detention, Zuñiga declared to the press that the president had ordered him to mobilize troops to simulate a self-coup with the aim of improving his image. “The president told me that the situation was very complicated and that it was necessary to prepare something to raise his popularity,” the general said.
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