The former head of the Bolivian army, General Juan José Zuniga, and two other high-ranking officers accused of leading the failed coup against President Luis Arce on Wednesday were placed in pre-trial detention on Saturday in two high security prisons, noted AFP.
On Friday, the courts ordered their incarceration for six months in Chonchocoro prison, on the outskirts of El Alto, a municipality close to La Paz, while the investigation into the armed uprising lasted a few hours. General Zuniga, Vice-Admiral Juan Arnez, former head of the navy, and Alejandro Irahola, former head of the mechanized brigade, are being prosecuted for “terrorism” and “armed uprising”, they face up to 20 years in prison.
But Juan José Zuniga was transferred late Saturday to another penitentiary center, to El Abra, a maximum security prison in the department of Cochabamba (center), according to Juan Carlos Limpias, director of the prison authority.
The transfer was made for his safety, given the “rejection” of the Chonchocoro detainees, who declared him “persona non grata,” Juan Carlos Limpias told the press, specifying that Juan Arnez and Alejandro Irahola remain in Chonchocoro. “At some point the truth will be known,” Juan José Zuniga, handcuffed, told the press at the time of his first transfer from La Paz.
General Zuniga claimed to have acted on orders from the president, who asked him to “stage something to increase his popularity”. A version vigorously denied by Luis Arce. A total of 21 active, retired and civilian soldiers were arrested in connection with the attempted coup, in which troops equipped with armored vehicles besieged the presidential palace for several hours before retreating.
On Saturday, the Minister of the Interior indicated that he had provided the justice system with evidence proving the military’s intention to carry out a coup d’état against Luis Arce. “We discovered a radio telegram” ordering the transfer of a plane to repatriate special forces to La Paz, Eduardo Del Castillo told the press.
