The dismissed army commander, General Juan Jose Zuniga, is said to be behind the action. He said on Bolivian television that the three top military leaders wanted to “express their displeasure.” And further: “There will certainly be a new cabinet, things will change, but our country cannot continue as before.”
Zuniga’s goal is to ‘restructure’ the country’s democracy. The armed forces plan to “restructure democracy to make it a real democracy and not a democracy that has been run by the same few people for 30, 40 years,” he said, surrounded by soldiers and several tanks in front of the presidential palace.
President Luis Arce called on Zuniga to immediately halt the action and recall his troops. On X, Arce denounced the “irregular mobilization” of parts of the armed forces.
He is also said to have already appointed a new chief of the general staff, Reuters news agency reports.
Bolivia: President warns of “coup” after military deployment
President Luis Arce called on the people to defend themselves against a ‘coup’ after numerous military units marched in front of the presidential palace. “The Bolivian people are called upon today to resist the coup and mobilize for democracy,” Arce said in a statement on Wednesday on TV broadcast message from the presidential palace, adding: “We cannot allow coup attempts to cost Bolivian lives again.”
Since Tuesday, there has been speculation in Bolivia about the removal of Zuniga, who has been in power since 2022. The general had previously announced that he would arrest former Bolivian President Evo Morales if he insisted on running for the 2025 presidential elections as announced. Morales, who served from 2006 to 2019 and resigned after mass demonstrations, was excluded from the elections in late December 2023.