[ad_1]
The armored vehicles circling Plaza Murillo – the normally peaceful central square in La Paz’s historic center – initially unnerved Bolivians on Wednesday afternoon. By the time the phalanx of troops marched toward the presidential palace, the sense of collective confusion and shock was at a fever pitch.
By 2:30 p.m., a small tank repeatedly pounded the gates of the neoclassical building known as the Palacio Quemado until troops stormed in and, in an extraordinary scene, the coup leader – a disgruntled former army chief, Juan José Zuniga – confronted the president, Luis Arce.
Flanked by cabinet ministers and clutching a ceremonial baton, a symbol of his rank as head of state, Arce, 60, ordered Zuniga to stand down, telling him: “I am your captain … withdraw all your troops now, general.”
The heated exchange was filmed and lasted several minutes. It ended when Zuniga turned and exited through the same broken door he had entered, disappearing into an armored army car that drove away.
It can be remembered as the shortest coup attempt in the tumultuous two-century existence of the Andean nation. It lasted only three hours, during which time Arce rallied Bolivians to “mobilize” in defense of democracy, apparently dispersed the rebellion in a one-on-one confrontation, and appointed a new military command that ordered the mutinous troops back to their barracks.
The unrest has left Bolivians shocked and bewildered.
But as soon as a semblance of normality returned, rumors began to swirl in the country of 12.5 million people, which has seen some 190 coups, as well as military dictatorships and revolutions, since it gained independence in 1825.
Just before he was taken into custody on Wednesday, the alleged plotter, Zuniga, sowed the seeds of doubt by telling reporters – without providing evidence – that Arce had ordered him to stage a fake coup in an attempt to boost the president’s dwindling popularity. The former commander, said to be close to the government, was fired the day before the rebellion, according to Bolivian government minister Eduardo Del Castillo.
Zuniga’s remarks were picked up by the opposition, which demanded a parliamentary inquiry into allegations that Arce tried to organize autogolpe (self-coup). Lawmaker from the Civil Community bloc, Alejandro Reyes, told Observer there were “indications, evidence and allegations that lead us to think that this [coup] was premeditated and may even involve executive involvement’.
In defense of Arce Daisy Chok, a lawmaker from the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, warned that the coup could have been successful “if it were not for the position taken by the president, ministers and Bolivian society as a whole in immediately rejecting these actions.” . She claims that Zuniga’s words are not very credible as he has changed his story several times.
On Thursday, Arce strongly rejected accusations that he was behind the coup attempt, saying: “We will never allow arms to be taken up against the people. What did the former commander of the army, Gen […] was to rise up against the Bolivian people, attacking the democracy that costs the blood of the Bolivian people. We will never do that. Never.”
On Friday, the government announced 20 more arrests, including a former Navy vice admiral. About 200 military personnel were involved in the coup attempt, Bolivia’s ambassador to the Organization of American States said.
after the promotion of the newsletter
What is not in doubt is that Arce presides over a shaky economy. Amid falling gas exports and dwindling foreign reserves, protests against rising food prices and fuel shortages and US dollar shortages are growing, as are deep divisions within his political party.
“Bolivia is going through multiple crises: political, economic, social and environmental, but above all institutional,” said Franklin Pareja, a political scientist at Bolivia’s San Andres University. “The government is in a very weak situation. There is no cohesion in his own party.
Arce is involved in a fierce power struggle with former President Evo Morales, who helped him get elected in 2020. Arce, a UK-educated economist, served as Morales’ finance minister and replaced him as the MAS candidate after Morales – the longest-serving democratically elected leader of the country – it was kicked out in 2019 amid allegations of electoral fraud, which he has denied.
Both said they plan to run for president in next year’s MAS election. Morales was among the first to condemn the apparent coup attempt, but has since remained silent. However, some of his supporters have joined the ranks of the doubters. Gerardo García, the vice president of MAS, accused Arce of doing a “a mockery of the state” and as the “intellectual author” of a fictitious coup.
Whether true or not, rumors of a “self-coup” have “taken hold in the public imagination,” Pareja said, and it may be difficult for Arce to shake off. “If it backfires on him, the weakness and fragility of his government could deepen.”
[ad_2]
