Bolivia general arrested after coup attempt
Gen. Juan José Zúñiga led what appeared to be a bid to unseat President Luis Arce
What happened
Former Bolivian military commander Gen. Juan José Zúñiga was arrested Wednesday night after leading what appeared to be a short-lived bid to unseat President Luis Arce. Zúñiga led soldiers and armored vehicles into La Paz's central Plaza Murillo and tried to occupy the presidential palace, but the soldiers pulled back after a newly installed army commander ordered them to return to their barracks.
Who said what
"The armed forces intend to restore the democracy, to make it a true democracy," Zúñiga said in televised remarks after refusing Arce's face-to-face command to stand down. The apparent coup attempt came amid an economic crisis exacerbated by tensions between Arce and his former ally, leftist ex-president Evo Morales.
Arce celebrated his government's success in "pushing back this attempted coup," telling a crowd in Plaza Murillo that "the only ones who can remove us from here are you."
What next?
Prosecutors said they will seek the maximum prison sentence of 15 to 20 years for Zúñiga, who claimed without evidence after his arrest that Arce had recently asked him to "prepare something to raise my popularity" ahead of 2025 elections, specifically encouraging him to "take out the armored vehicles." The government denied that claim.
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