Bolivia: President warns of "coup d'état" after military deployment
According to AFP journalists in La Paz, troops and tanks were deployed on Plaza Murillo before the Presidential Palace. Soldiers attempted to break open a metal gate of the office building. Later, Juan José Zúñiga, the commander-in-chief of the Bolivian army, entered the Presidential Palace.
Zúñiga stated, his goal was to "restructure democracy in the country." The military had the intention, "to restructure democracy to make it a true democracy and not one that has been led by the same few people for the past 30, 40 years," he said surrounded by soldiers and several tanks in front of the Presidential Palace.
In Bolivia, there had been speculation since Tuesday about the removal of Juan José Zúñiga, who had previously announced he would arrest the former Bolivian president Evo Morales if Morales intended to run for presidency in the 2025 elections. Morales, who served from 2006 to 2019 and stepped down amid mass demonstrations, was excluded from the election at the end of December 2023.
- The deployment of troops and tanks on Plaza Murillo before the Presidential Palace raised concerns about a potential coup d'état in Bolivia.
- The situation was further compounded when President Luis Arce accused the military, led by General Juan José Zúñiga, of attempting to stage a coup d'état.
- As protests erupted in La Paz, General Zúñiga addressed the nation on television, denying any intention of staging a coup d'état.
- The Presidential Palace, a symbol of democracy in Bolivia, became the epicenter of the conflict between the military and the civilian government, sparking international concern.
- General Zúñiga insisted that his goal was to "restructure democracy in the country" and not to stage a coup d'état, as some feared.
- A military unit, led by General Zúñiga, held a parade in front of the Presidential Palace, further fueling speculations about a possible coup d'état.
- Despite General Zúñiga's denial, the incident served as a reminder of Bolivia's turbulent history of military interference in politics, with past coup d'états dating back to the 1950s.
