AIZAR RALDES / AFP
In Bolivia, President Luis Arce denies having orchestrated the coup against him himself
BOLIVIA – Stage a coup d’état to attract the sympathy of its citizens? Bolivian President Luis Arce denied on Thursday June 28 any conspiracy with the former army chief, arrested on charges of having attempted a coup d’état on Wednesday by deploying armored vehicles in front of the presidential palace in La Paz.
Fourteen civilians who opposed the coup, in which elements of the military police took part, were injured by pellet fire, according to the authorities. Some had to be hospitalized and “operated”Luis Arce told the press.
General Juan José Zúñiga, arrested the same day after finally withdrawing his troops, claimed to have acted on orders from the president who allegedly asked him to “stage something to increase one’s popularity”in a context of serious economic crisis.
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« Gain popularity with the blood of the people”
“How could one order or plan a self-coup? (…) He acted on his own accord”replied Luis Arce on Thursday. “Unfortunately for him, and this has been seen, I am not a politician who will gain his popularity with the blood of the people”.
On Wednesday, Luis Arce swore in a new command of the armed forces. In addition to the general and the head of the Navy, Juan Arnez Salvador, 15 people were arrested. The two men are being prosecuted for “armed uprising and terrorism” and face up to 20 years in prison.
The institutional storm only blew for a few hours, but enough to reveal the country’s fragilities as appetites sharpened in view of the 2025 presidential election.
“Making a real democracy”
The motivations of army chief Juan José Zúñiga, who had stationed men and armoured vehicles in Murillo Square, opposite the parliament and the presidential palace, remain unclear.
Before his arrest by the police, General Zuniga had said he wanted “restructuring democracy, making it a real democracy (…) Not that of a few, not that of a few masters who have ruled the country for 30 or 40 years”.
The Minister of Government (Interior), Eduardo Del Castillo, castigated “two military putschists who wanted to destroy democracy”On Thursday, he presented to the media 15 other people arrested, handcuffed, surrounded by police officers. “This operation had been planned since May”he said, adding that three other suspects were being sought.
The United Nations has requested “a thorough and impartial investigation into the allegations of violence”.
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