image source, Reuters
Soldiers stormed the presidential palace in Bolivia, as the country’s president warned of an imminent “coup”.
“We will take back this country,” Al-Dibre newspaper quoted General Juan Jose Zuniga as telling reporters from Murillo Square after the forces took control of it.
President Luis Arce said there was a “coup” taking place and demanded that General Zuniga withdraw the forces that had taken control of parts of central La Paz.
The leaders of Mexico and Honduras immediately condemned the apparent coup attempt.
Former President Evo Morales called on democracy supporters to strike and close roads.
“A group of the Special Chalapata Regiment (Méndez Arcos) captured Plaza Murillo with snipers,” he wrote.
“This seems to indicate that they were preparing the coup in advance,” he added.
“I ask democratically minded people to defend the nation against some military groups that are working against democracy and the people.”
Rumors had been circulating for days that General Zuniga was about to be sacked. The army chief appeared on television on Monday and said he would arrest Morales if he ran for president again next year.
image source, EPA
Bolivian Minister Maria Neela Prada posted a video on her Facebook account showing the view from a window in a government building.
She said she was witnessing an “attempted coup.”
“I’m in the People’s Palace. As you can see, this is Piazza Murillo that was taken over by tanks and armed forces. We understand that it is an army faction,” she said.
She said that military units took positions at the four corners of the square and did not allow anyone to enter.
“They launched this operation in a very irregular way,” she added.
Morales, the first president to come from Bolivia’s indigenous majority, implemented a radical program after winning power in 2005, aimed at addressing extreme social divisions and inequality.
The former Coke leader resigned in 2019 after trying to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term in power. He was succeeded by opposition Senator Jeanine Anez, who declared herself interim president in November 2019.
Arce won the presidential election in October 2020, returning the Socialist Diamond Party to power.