Bolivian president thanks after facing failed coup attempt | Military News

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Regional organizations support the Bolivian government as troops and armored vehicles gather in the capital.

Bolivian President Luis Arce thanked the country’s people after facing an attempted coup that drew international condemnation and saw soldiers break down the doors of the presidential palace.

Troops led by the general commander of the Army, Juan José Zuniga, began to withdraw from the area around the presidential palace, after Arce called on the country to defend democracy and fired Zuniga along with the heads of the Navy and the Air Force. Leaders around the world called the army’s actions illegal.

“Many thanks to the Bolivian people,” said Arce. “Long live democracy.”

Dramatic footage broadcast on Bolivian television on Wednesday showed Arce confronting Zuniga in the palace corridor. “I am your captain and I order you to withdraw your soldiers and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce said.

The newly appointed head of the army, José Wilson Sanchez, ordered all mobilized troops to return to their barracks, stating that “nobody wants the images we are seeing on the streets”. The Public Ministry said it had opened a criminal investigation into those responsible for the failed attempt against the government.

Before entering the building, Zuniga addressed reporters in the capital.

“Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army,” he said.

“The three heads of the Armed Forces came to express our dismay. There will be a new cabinet of ministers, things will certainly change, but our country cannot continue like this,” Zuniga told a local television station. The general noted that he recognized Arce as commander in chief “for now” but is trying to “restore democracy.”

Former president Evo Morales denounced the military’s movement in Murillo square, in front of the palace, calling for criminal proceedings against Zuniga and anyone who helped him.

“We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people,” he said.

The country’s largest union also announced an indefinite strike in defense of the government. Videos circulating on social media appear to show crowds expelling coup forces from a square in the capital La Paz.

Latin American leaders and organizations also expressed alarm over the effort on Wednesday, with officials from countries including Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Peru, Honduras, Paraguay and Colombia denouncing the army’s actions as an attack on democracy.

A White House spokesperson said the United States is calling for calm and restraint and that the Biden administration is monitoring developments.

“We condemn the events in Bolivia. The army must submit to the legitimately elected civil power,” said Luis Almagro, leader of the Organization of American States (OAS), following news that a tank had hit the doors of the national palace, opening the way for soldiers to enter. .

The scenes brought alarm to the Andean nation, where former left-wing president Morales, from the same party as Arce, was removed from office in events that many described as a coup d’état in 2019.

“I think it’s very important to remember that Bolivia had an illegal government with the support of the military and a coup in 2019,” Kathryn Ledebur of the Andean Information Network told Al Jazeera.

“And so we had a return to democracy, but there continues to be impunity, although there are accusations against some military officers and some political figures are in prison. But we have a structural problem in the armed forces.”

Associated Press photos show soldiers pushing back journalists near the presidential palace in the capital La Paz. Armored vehicles and heavily armed soldiers were present.

We denounce irregular movements by some units of the Bolivian Army. Democracy must be respected.

— Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia) June 26, 2024

“We express the strongest condemnation of the attempted coup d’état in Bolivia,” said Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro called the mobilization a “criminal coup d’état,” and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the group of European states condemns any attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government.