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COUP ATTEMPT: BOLIVIAN POLICE ARREST LEADER
Bolivian police have arrested the leader of an attempted coup, hours after the presidential palace in the capital La Paz was stormed by soldiers.
Armoured vehicles and troops also took up positions on Murillo Square where key government buildings are located. They are now reported to have begun withdrawing.
The rebel military officer in charge, General Juan José Zúñiga, had said he wanted to “restructure democracy” and that while he respected President Luis Arce for now there would be a change of government. He is now under arrest.
President Luis Arce condemned the coup attempt, calling on the public to “organise and mobilise… in favour of democracy”.
“We cannot allow once again coup attempts to take Bolivian lives,” he said in a televised message to the country inside the presidential palace.
He also announced he was appointing new military commanders, confirming reports that Gen Zúñiga had been dismissed after openly criticising Bolivia’s former leader, Evo Morales.
Mr Morales also condemned the coup attempt and called for criminal charges to be brought against Gen Zúñiga and his “accomplices”.
The public prosecutor’s office said it would open a criminal investigation.
Speaking from Murillo Square after it was taken by troops, Gen Zúñiga had said: “We are going to recover this homeland”.
“An elite has taken over the country, vandals who have destroyed the country.”
Gen Zúñiga also said “political prisoners” including jailed former leader Jeanine Áñez would be freed.
Gen Zúñiga appeared on television on Monday and said he would arrest Mr Morales if he ran for office again next year, despite being barred from doing so.
Mr Morales – who quit as president and was replaced by Ms Áñez after the chief of the army urged him to step down amid protests over allegations of vote-rigging in the 2019 election – also called on supporters of democracy to strike and block roads.
Formerly allies, Mr Morales is currently opposed to Mr Arce, despite them being from the same socialist movement, and there have been growing political tensions between the pair.
The coup attempt sparked international condemnation, including from several Latin American countries.
The leader of neighbouring Paraguay made an “energetic call to respect democracy and the rule of law”, while Mexico’s president expressed the “strongest condemnation of the attempted coup”.
The US said it was monitoring the situation in Bolivia closely and urged restraint.
“The European Union condemns any attempt to disrupt the constitutional order in Bolivia,” wrote the body’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on social media.
Mr Arce was elected after a period of instability following the 2019 election.
Mr Morales, the first president to come from Bolivia’s indigenous majority, carried out a radical programme after winning power in 2005, aimed at addressing extreme social divisions and inequalities.
The former coca union leader resigned in 2019 after attempting to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term in power. He was succeeded by Ms Áñez, who declared herself interim president in November 2019.
However, in a re-run of the 2019 election a year later, Mr Arce won, returning the Mas socialist party to power. Ms Áñez was sentenced to 10 years in jail for “decisions contrary to the constitution”..
