Bolivian official says general wanted to take power, navy vice admiral also arrested

A high-ranking Bolivian official says the army general arrested in Wednesday’s apparent failed coup attempt was out to seize power and a second top officer was also arrested over the uprising.

Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo said in the evening that in addition to Juan José Zúñiga, former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador was taken into custody. Both men were dismissed by President Luis Arce and replaced after the uprising began.

Del Castillo accused Zúñiga of attempting a coup with political motivations.
“What was this group’s goal? The goal was to overturn the democratically elected authority,” del Castillo said in an appearance before journalists in which the two men were presented.

“Gen. Zúñiga wanted to take power,” he added.

Del Castillo also said two people were injured and taken to the hospital: One who was hit in the leg by a shotgun pellet, and another for whom details were not released.

Bolivia’s justice minister has denied an army general’s claims of being asked by the president to storm the government palace.

Iván Lima said Juan José Zúñiga, who was arrested earlier Wednesday after the apparent coup attempt fizzled, was lying and trying to justify his own actions, for which he will face justice.

Lima also said via the social platform X that prosecutors will seek the maximum sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison for Zúñiga, “for having attacked democracy and the Constitution.”

Shortly before he was arrested, Zúñiga told reporters: “The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity.’”

Zúñiga said he asked President Luis Arce if he should “take out the armored vehicles?” and Arce replied, “Take them out.”

In a sense, the uprising was the culmination of tensions that have been brewing in Bolivia for months, with protesters streaming into the nation’s capital amid a severe economic crisis and as two political titans battle for control of the ruling party.

At the same time, the attempt to take over the palace appeared to have lacked any meaningful support, and even President Luis Arce’s rivals quickly closed ranks to defend democracy and repudiate the uprising.

Luis Arce, who studied economics in London, was economy minister under President Evo Morales, whose time in office from 2006 to 2019 made him an icon of the Latin American left.

After Morales left office, Arce became president in November 2020, following Jeanine Añez’s short time in office.

The army general apparently behind the failed coup attempt has claimed that the president asked him to storm the government palace in a political move.

Shortly before he was arrested, Juan José Zúñiga told reporters: “The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity.’”

Zúñiga said he asked President Luis Arce if he should “take out the armored vehicles?” and Arce replied, “Take them out.”
Arce has not commented on Zúñiga’s claim. The Associated Press has asked the Ministry of the Presidency, but there has been no immediate reply.

Bolivian authorities say Juan José Zúñiga, the army general apparently behind the failed coup attempt, has been arrested after the attorney general opened an investigation against him.

It was not immediately clear what the charges against Zúñiga were.

Vice President David Choquehuanca told the crowd, who gathered in Plaza Murillo, outside the governmental palace, after Wednesday’s apparent failed coup attempt, “Never again will the Bolivian people allow coups d’etat.”

Bolivian President Luis Arce addressed supporters who gathered in Plaza Murillo, outside the governmental palace, after Wednesday’s apparent failed coup attempt.

“Many thanks to the Bolivian people. ... Long live democracy,” Arce said.

People then began singing the South American country’s national anthem.

Chile is among foreign governments that are condemning what appeared to be a failed coup attempt in neighboring Bolivia.

President Gabriel Boric told reporters that he “immediately” contacted his Bolivian counterpart to offer his “solidarity.”

“We condemn this coup attempt. We call for institutions to function, for the constitution and the laws to be respected,” he added. “We hope that no one is injured and that the legitimate government of President Luis Arce remains in place and can continue with the mandate that the Bolivian people have voted for.”

Boric said the matter would be raised Thursday before the Organization of American States.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed the European bloc’s strong support for constitutional order and the rule of law in Bolivia.

Troops and armored vehicles have begun to pull back from Bolivia’s government palace.

Supporters of President Luis Arce flooded into the plaza outside and waved Bolivian flags soon afterward.

Arce said the day has been “atypical in the life of country that wants democracy.”

He decried what he called “an attempted coup by troops who are staining the uniform, who are attacking our constitution.”
Arce praised those troops who obey the constitution and “wear their uniform with pride.”

“We deplore the attitudes of bad troops who regrettably repeat history by trying to carry out a coup when the Bolivian people have always been a democratic people,” he added.

Bolivia’s newly appointed military chief has ordered military units in the capital to return to their barracks.

President Arce has announced new heads of the army, navy and air force. That includes the position of the army general commander, Juan José Zúñiga, who appears to be leading the rebellion.

New army chief José Wilson Sánchez is ordering all mobilized troops to return to their barracks. “No one wants the images we’re seeing in the streets,” he said.
Arce said that those who rose up against him were “staining the uniform.” He vowed that democracy would be respected.

Police with riot gear have put up fences around the government palace and the plaza outside.

Video from the streets showed armored vehicles driving away from the palace, followed by troops and journalists.

The leadership of Bolivia’s largest labor union has condemned what it calls an attempted coup d’état and declared an indefinite strike of social and labor organizations in La Paz in defense of the government.

Zúñiga did not explicitly say he’s leading a coup, but in the palace, with bangs echoing behind him, he said the army was trying to “restore democracy and free our political prisoners.”

Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday as a top government official warned of a coup attempt and President Luis Arce said “irregular” deployment of troops was taking place in the capital.

Video on Bolivian television showed Arce confronting the general commander of the Army, Juan José Zúñiga, in the palace hallway. “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce said.

Before entering the government building, Zúñiga told journalists in the plaza: “Surely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this.” Zúñiga said that “for now” he recognizes Arce as commander in chief.

In a message on his X account, Arce called for “democracy to be respected.” It came as Bolivian television showed two tanks and a number of men in military uniform in front of the government palace.

“We cannot allow, once again, coup attempts to take the lives of Bolivians,” he said from inside the palace, surrounded by government officials, in a video message sent to news outlets.

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