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Live updates: Troops return to barracks following attempted coup in Bolivia
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Bolivian President Luis Arce said Wednesday in a video message, surrounded by his Cabinet, that he was standing firm against an attempted coup.
What to know:
- Earlier Wednesday, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce warned that an “irregular” deployment of troops was taking place in the Bolivian capital, raising concerns that a potential coup was underway.
- He called for “democracy to be respected” in a message on his X account. It came as Bolivian television showed two tanks and several men in military uniform in front of the government palace.
- Bolivia has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s steep decline from one of the continent’s fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.
Bolivia’s newly appointed military chief has ordered military units in the capital to return to their barracks.
President Arce has announced three new heads of Bolivia’s armed forces.
The leadership of Bolivia’s largest labor union has condemned what it calls an attempted coup d’état and declared an indefinite strike of social and labor organizations in La Paz in defense of the government.
Zúñiga says he’s trying to ‘restore democracy’
Zúñiga did not explicitly say he’s leading a coup, but in the palace, with bangs echoing behind him, he said the army was trying to “restore democracy and free our political prisoners.”
A coup attempt is feared in Bolivia as troops pour into the streets
Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday as a top government official warned of a coup attempt and President Luis Arce said “irregular” deployment of troops was taking place in the capital.
Video on Bolivian television showed Arce confronting the general commander of the Army, Juan José Zúñiga, in the palace hallway. “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce said.
Before entering the government building, Zúñiga told journalists in the plaza: “Surely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this.” Zúñiga said that “for now” he recognizes Arce as commander in chief.
In a message on his X account, Arce called for “democracy to be respected.” It came as Bolivian television showed two tanks and a number of men in military uniform in front of the government palace.
“We cannot allow, once again, coup attempts to take the lives of Bolivians,” he said from inside the palace, surrounded by government officials, in a video message sent to news outlets.
▶ Get up to speed on the situation in Bolivia.