Avril Elfi from OAN
Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
Bolivia’s president has warned of an attempted “coup” as troops stormed the government palace.
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Before breaking through the doors of the main government building, troops blocked the entrance to La Paz’s Plaza Murillo, home to key government buildings, before suddenly storming inside.
Troops and armored vehicles took up positions in the square.
President Luis Arce had previously warned on social media about “illegal mobilization of some military forces. Democracy must be respected.”
Bolivian Minister Maria Nela Prada posted a video on her Meta (Facebook) account showing the view from the window of a government building.
“I am in the People’s Palace and as you can see, this is Plaza Murillo occupied by armed tanks and troops,” Prada said.
Acré said Bolivians needed to mobilize quickly to fight against the “coup.”
“The Bolivian people must unite and act in the name of democracy against the coup,” President Arce said in a televised message to the nation, standing alongside his cabinet ministers from the presidential palace. “We cannot allow another coup attempt to take the lives of Bolivians.”
General Juan José Zúñiga, the military officer in command of the forces that seized central La Paz, declared he recognized President Arce “for the time being,” but hinted at possible changes in the cabinet and ministers.
“We are going to take back our country,” Gen. Juan José Zúñiga said in the military-occupied Plaza Murillo. “The elites have taken over the country, the subversives have destroyed it,” Zúñiga said. “The army is going to take back true democracy.”
He said “political prisoners” would be released, including jailed former leader Jeanine Áñez.
On Monday, army commanders appeared on television and said they would arrest former leftist President Evo Morales if he is re-elected next year.
Morales, who resigned as president amid protests over allegations of voter fraud in a 2019 election and was replaced by Áñez, has called on pro-democracy supporters to strike and block roads.
“I call on people who value democracy to defend their homeland against certain military groups that are opposed to democracy and the people,” he said.
A White House national security spokesman said the United States was closely monitoring the situation in Bolivia and urged a measured response.
According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the EU condemns any attempt to subvert the constitutional order.
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