“We are going to recover this homeland,” General Juan José Zúñiga said this Wednesday before the media while a group of soldiers he led took over Plaza Murillo in the city of La Paz, in Bolivia.
Soldiers and armored vehicles took control of the emblematic square for a few hours and entered the Quemado Palace, the former headquarters of the government, led by Zúñiga, in what Bolivian President Luis Arce described as an “attempted coup d’état.”
“Here are the armed forces with their people,” said the general.
“We are listening to the cry of the people. Because for many years, an elite has taken charge of the country. Owners of the State, vandals are in the different structures of the State, destroying the country. The Armed Forces intend to restructure democracy,” he assured.
A couple of hours later, and once the military had withdrawn from Plaza Murillo, Zuniga was arrestedafter accusing Arce before the cameras of having carried out a “self-coup” to increase his popularity.
On Tuesday the general Zúñiga had been removed from his position as head of the Bolivian Army after some threatening statements on television, in which he strongly opposed former president Evo Morales—leader of the ruling MAS party but Arce’s political rival—being a candidate in the country’s next elections.
Zúñiga stated that I would be willing to arrest the former president “if the case warrants it” and said that the Army would defend “at all costs the Political Constitution and the high interests of the country.”
After the events of this Wednesday in Plaza Murillo, President Luis Arce addressed the country surrounded by his cabinet. “We are firm to confront any coup attempt,” he said in a televised message.
Images on social networks later showed Arce inside the Quemado Palace standing up to Zúñiga and ordering the withdrawal of the military, something that happened minutes later.
The controversial “people’s general”
Juan José Zúñiga Macías was appointed general commander of the Bolivian army in November 2022 and ratified in January of this year by President Luis Arce.
Before that, Zúñiga held the position of chief of the General Staff. He has extensive military experience and is an expert in intelligence work.
The Bolivian newspaper El Deber defined it as “the general of the people”, due to its proximity to mining and union sectors.
In his past, however, faced accusations of having diverted $2.7 million bolivianos (about $400,000 dollars) of public funds when he was head of an Infantry Regiment.
A non-commissioned officer accused him in 2013 of having ordered him to divert those resources, which were intended to finance pensions, school bonuses and travel expenses for the military. For this reason, he was punished with seven days of arrest.
In 2022, General Zúñiga was mentioned by Evo Morales as the leader of a group within the army that allegedly carried out a “permanent persecution” of political leaders like him, The “Pachajchos”.
“At any moment this Army Pachajcho group is going to mount tests, I want to anticipate them, alert the people,” Morales stated at that time.
According to former military personnel and Zúñiga himself, the “Pachajchos” are a group that was actually created during the last government of Evo Morales and is dedicated to military intelligence work.
Accusation against Arce
This Wednesday afternoon, after the Bolivian Attorney General’s Office issued an arrest warrant against Juan José Zúñiga, he was detained.
At the time of his arrest, The military man accused Luis Arce of organizing the coup attempt to “raise their popularity.”
“On Sunday at La Salle School I met with the president and the president told me that ‘the situation is very screwed, this week is going to be critical.’ So it is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity,’” Zúñiga said in front of the cameras at the time of his arrest.
The general continued describing his alleged conversation with Arce, in which he asked him if they should “take out the armored vehicles?” and he responded affirmatively: “Take out.” According to Zúñiga, that same night preparations began, mobilizing military vehicles.
Before they took him into custody, Zúñiga assured that it was a “self-coup.”
Confrontation between Arce and Morales
Following the events of this Wednesday, President Luis Arce appointed new military commanders.
For his part, former President Morales, through his of the Armed Forces.”
Arce and Morales, who were once allies, have maintained a political confrontation in recent months over the future of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party and the former president’s attempt to seek a new term.
In various public statements, Arce said he was the target of a “soft coup” that aims to “shorten mandates” and behind which would be Morales’ followers.
The former president has also denounced that Arce is seeking to undermine his aspirations for a new presidential candidacy by taking over the leadership of the MAS.
Morales left power in 2019, after a military uprising following the first round of the presidential elections. He then left the country with support from Mexico, but returned once Arce returned the MAS to power.
In parallel, Bolivia faces a serious economic crisis due to lack of fuel and shortage of foreign currency. This has generated union mobilizations for which Arce blames Morales.
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- What was the “coup attempt” that the president of Bolivia denounced after the military took the center of La Paz and entered the government headquarters?
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