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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Democrats push for ICE accountabilityFeature U.S. citizens shot and violently detained by immigration agents testify at Capitol Hill hearing
-
The price of sporting gloryFeature The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off this week. Will Italy regret playing host?
-
Fulton County: A dress rehearsal for election theft?Feature Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is Trump's de facto ‘voter fraud’ czar
-
Trump links funding to name on Penn StationSpeed Read Trump “can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers,” a Schumer insider said
-
Trump reclassifies 50,000 federal jobs to ease firingsSpeed Read The rule strips longstanding job protections from federal workers
-
Supreme Court upholds California gerrymanderSpeed Read The emergency docket order had no dissents from the court
-
700 ICE agents exit Twin Cities amid legal chaosSpeed Read More than 2,000 agents remain in the region
-
Vietnam’s ‘balancing act’ with the US, China and EuropeIn the Spotlight Despite decades of ‘steadily improving relations’, Hanoi is still ‘deeply suspicious’ of the US as it tries to ‘diversify’ its options
-
Trump demands $1B from Harvard, deepening feudSpeed Read Trump has continually gone after the university during his second term
-
House ends brief shutdown, tees up ICE showdownSpeed Read Numerous Democrats joined most Republicans in voting yes
-
Trump’s Kennedy Center closure plan draws ireSpeed Read Trump said he will close the center for two years for ‘renovations’
