A coup attempt in Bolivia failed Thursday after armed forces withdrew from the presidential palace and General Juan José Zuniga, who had led the coup, was arrested. President Luis Arce remains in control of the country.
Zuniga, who had recently been stripped of his military command as commanding general of the Bolivian Army, gathered military units on Plaza Murillo Square, La Paz’s central block, which contains Bolivia’s Congress and Presidential Palace. The gathered soldiers then stormed the latter.
After several tense hours, Bolivian police re-entered the square, and Arce swore in a new commanding general, José Wilson Sanchez, who ordered the soldiers to return to their units. The soldiers then dispersed peacefully.
While the details surrounding the coup, including Zuniga’s motives, are still unclear, the events occurred in an increasingly tense political climate in Bolivia. Arce’s governing socialist MAS party is currently facing a major rift as the former president, the more hard-line Evo Morales (who is still the party head), intends to run against Arce. Zuniga had earlier made statements against Morales, even threatening to block him from returning to the presidency.
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