Coup in Bolivia: The army tries to seize power from Luis Arce

Today, Wednesday (26), Bolivian President Luis Arce denounced the possible military coup in the country. This announcement came via a message on his Twitter account: “We condemn the irregular mobilization carried out by some Bolivian army units. Democracy must be respected.”

The alleged uprising condemned by Arce comes hours after the government clashed again with Bolivian army chief Juan Jose Zuniga, who has been critical of Evo Morales for trying to return to the presidency in the upcoming elections.

In this context, some Bolivian media reported that the Arce government dismissed Zuniga from his position yesterday, despite his participation in an official event this morning, which made it unclear whether he was still at the head of the army.

After the event, Zúñiga led units that approached Plaza Murillo in La Paz, where the government headquarters is located. According to Bolivian media reports, Arce is in the administrative building.

After the first attack by some units, Zuñiga threatened to “seize” the executive headquarters. Minutes later, after entering and exiting the Government House, Zuniga announced that he would leave Plaza Murillo.

Former Bolivian President, Evo Morales, stated, “The coup is in preparation. At this moment, members of the armed forces and tanks are deployed in Plaza Murillo. They called an emergency meeting at three o’clock in the afternoon at the headquarters of the General Staff of the Army in Miraflores in combat uniform. We call on social movements in the countryside and cities to defend democracy.”

“We call for a national mobilization to defend democracy in the face of the coup taking place under the leadership of General Zuniga. We have declared an indefinite general strike and road closures. We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and threaten the people,” Morales added.

Meanwhile, OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro said his office “condemns in the strongest terms the events in Bolivia. The army must submit to the legitimately elected civilian authority. We express our solidarity with the President of #Bolivia, Luis Arce Catacura, his government and the entire Bolivian people. The international community, the Organization of American States and the Secretariat will not tolerate any violation of the legitimate constitutional order in Bolivia or elsewhere.