Bolivia is deeply polarized after years of political instability
\n La Paz
\nTwo Bolivian army leaders were arrested Wednesday after soldiers and tanks took up position in front of government buildings in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup.
\nThe troops and tanks entered Plaza Murillo, a historic square where the presidency and Congress are situated, in the afternoon, prompting global condemnation of an attack on democracy.
\nOne of the tanks tried to break down a metal door of the presidential palace.
\nSurrounded by soldiers and eight tanks, the now-dismissed army chief General Juan Jose Zuniga said the \u201carmed forces intend to restructure democracy, to make it a true democracy and not one run by the same few people for 30, 40 years.\u201d
\nAFP reporters saw soldiers and tanks pulling back from the square shortly after. The uprising lasted about five hours.
\nZuniga was captured and forced into a police car as he addressed reporters outside a military barracks later on Wednesday, footage on state television showed.
\n\u201cGeneral, you are under arrest,\u201d Deputy Interior Minister Jhonny Aguilera told Zuniga.
\nA second senior military officer Juan Arnez Salvador, who was head of the Bolivian navy, was also arrested Wednesday night.
\nSalvador\u2019s arrest was announced by Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo, who said that Zuniga and Arnez are \u201ctwo military coup leaders who tried to destroy democracy and the institutionality of our country and failed.\u201d
\nSpeaking from a balcony of the government palace, Arce told hundreds of supporters that \u201cNo one can take away the democracy we have won.\u201d
\nHe had urged \u201cthe Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d\u2019etat in favor of democracy,\u201d in an earlier televised message to the country alongside his ministers inside the presidential palace.
\nHe fired Zuniga and Salvador and swore in a new set of military leaders.
\nBefore he was arrested, Zuniga told reporters that the president had told him to stage an uprising, in order to trigger a crackdown that would make him look strong and boost his sagging approval rating.
\nAt a meeting Sunday, the general said, Zuniga asked Arce \u201cso we bring out armored vehicles?\u201d He said the president answered, \u201cbring them out.\u201d
\nArce\u2019s instructions were to \u201cstage something to raise his popularity,\u201d Zuniga said.
\nFormer president Evo Morales wrote on social media platform X that \u201ca coup d\u2019etat is brewing\u201d and urged a \u201cnational mobilization to defend democracy.\u201d
\nBolivia is deeply polarized after years of political instability and the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party is riven by internal conflict between supporters of Arce and his former mentor Morales.
\nMorales, who was Bolivia\u2019s first Indigenous president, was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term in office in 2019.
\nThe leftist and former coca union leader won that vote but was forced to resign amid deadly protests over alleged election fraud, and fled the country.
\nHe returned after Arce won the presidency in October 2020.
\nSince then a power struggle has grown between the two men, and Morales has increasingly criticized the government and accused it of corruption, tolerating drug trafficking, and sidelining him politically.
\nSix months ago, the Constitutional Court disqualified Morales from the 2025 elections, however he is still seeking nomination as the MAS candidate.
\nArce has not said whether he will seek re-election. Zuniga appeared on television on Monday and said he would arrest Morales if he insisted on running for office again in 2025.
\n\u201cLegally he is disqualified, that man cannot be president of this country again,\u201d he said. Since that interview, rumors have swirled that Zuniga was on the verge of being dismissed.
\nThe US administration of Joe Biden said it was keeping a close eye on events in Bolivia and \u201ccalls for calm,\u201d according to a spokesperson for the National Security Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bolivia is deeply polarized after years of political instability La Paz Two Bolivian army leaders were arrested Wednesday after soldiers and tanks took up position in front of government buildings in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup. The troops and tanks entered Plaza Murillo, a historic square where the presidency and Congress are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-415000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n