Failed coup d’état in Bolivia, soldiers break into government building: army commander arrested

“We soldiers are annoyed.” With these four words, the general Juan José Zuñigacommander of the army, dismissed the day before, brought the Bolivia in a past that seemed lost in time. The soldiers under his orders, heavily armed and with some armored vehicles, took control in a few minutes of the central Murillo square, the heart of La Paz, while a tank broke through the entrance door of the Palacio Quemado, seat of the government. President Luis Arcewho was in the building, immediately reported via X “irregular movements” of troops, calling on the population to “organize” in defense of democracy.

The coup lasted just over three hours, before turning into an operetta coup. Or in a brief and clumsy show of strength, condemned by much of the international community and ended witharrest of the coup general.

Arce appeared in a video inside the stormed building. «We cannot allow a coup d’état to take the lives of Bolivians», he said before confronting the coup-plotting general, ordering him to retreat. Faced with his refusal, he appointed new commanders of the three forces – army, navy and air force – declaring that the insurgent troops “were staining the uniform”.

«I order all those mobilized to return to their units”, the new army chief then warned, José Wilson Sánchez. A few minutes later, Zuñiga left the square in an armored vehicle. Then he was arrested, together with the former Navy commander, on charges of terrorism and armed insurrection against security and state sovereignty.

His are disturbing statements after the arrestor, according to which the attack on the government offices had been ordered by the president himself, Luis Arce, to increase his “popularity” at a time of political conflict with former president Evo Morales. «It is necessary to prepare something to increase my popularity», Arce would have told the general, according to the latter’s reconstruction, before authorizing him to «bring out the armored vehicles». The government immediately denied it.

The Bolivian newspaper El Deber Zuñiga defined “the people’s general”, due to his closeness to the mining and trade union sectors. In the past, however, he has been accused of having diverted 2.7 million bolivianos (about 400,000 euros) of public funds when he commanded an infantry regiment. Appointed army chief by Arce himself in 2022, the general was accused a few months later by Morales of being the leader of a group within the army – the “Pachajchos” – that he would carry out a “permanent persecution” of political leaders like him.

Former President Evo Morales was among the first to raise the alarm about X on Wednesday. “A military coup is underway,” wrote the founder of the Movement for Socialism (MAS), one of the “fathers” of the new Bolivarian left, who aspires to return to lead the country and has already announced his candidacy in next year’s elections. After the so-called “2019 crisis,” a white coup that led to the resignation of Morales, accused of electoral fraud and then taking refuge for a period in Mexico, the MAS returned to power at the end of 2020 with the election of Arce, former Minister of Economy, with whom Morales has, however, engaged in violent clashes in recent years for control of the party and the government line.

The coup leader Zuñiga was removed from the post of army commander last Tuesday, just after launching a series of threats against Morales. «He will no longer have to be president of this country. I will not allow him to trample on the Constitution, to disobey the people’s mandate,” he said. And on Wednesday, before attacking the government building, he had warned: «You will certainly soon see a new government. The ministers will change, our state cannot continue like this. We soldiers show our disappointment, it is a duty, an obligation for the Armed Forces to reconquer this homeland.” When journalists asked him if he still recognized Arce’s authority, he replied: “For the moment.”

The Central of Bolivian Workers (COB), the largest union in the country, immediately called for «rise up against the coup plotters» and proclaimed an indefinite general strike. Shortly after, several citizens began to arrive at Murillo Square, defying the tear gas and rubber bullets of the insurgent soldiers. At least twelve people were injured in the clashes. Concern and expressions of solidarity with Arce arrived yesterday from neighboring countries, from Mexico to Venezuela, from Chile to Brazil.

For his part, President Arce himself had launched heavy accusations against Morales in recent days, claiming that part of the Presidential Guard was plotting with him a sort of “coup bland” (soft coup) to bring forward the electionsexpected in November 2025.

Just over three hours after the start of the coup, the soldiers deployed in Murillo square, they started to demobilize after the appointment of the new army commander, who asked everyone to return to the barracks. “We salute the soldiers who wear the uniform with pride” different from those “who repeat history by trying to carry out a coup d’état when the Bolivian people have always been democratic,” said the Bolivian president, Luis Arce.

«The new appointment should appease unconstitutional appetites», he highlighted, inviting the population to remain calm. So it is General Juan José Zuñiga was arrested, as he left the headquarters of the Bolivian General Staff at 7pm local time. The deposed commander is accused of an “attempted coup d’état” against the government of Bolivian President Luis Arce.

“No one can take away the democracy we have achieved”, Arce said after hours of very high tension, appearing from the presidential balcony in front of hundreds of supporters. However, the situation remains tense. Bolivia, which was experiencing growth rates of 7%, is now in a deep economic crisis and the feud between the two leaders of the Mas, the unrest of the military and popular discontent herald months of instability until the November 2025 vote.