Photo credit: AP News
There was an attempted coup in Bolivia on Wednesday as armoured vehicles rammed the doors of the presidential palace. Still, President Luis Arce stood firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to retreat.
The soldiers soon pulled back along with a line of military vehicles. Hundreds of Arce’s supporters rushed the square outside the palace, waving Bolivian flags, singing the national anthem and cheering.
Arce waved to the crowd surrounded by ministers. He said, “Thank you to the Bolivian people. Let Democracy live on.”
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Juan Jose Zuniga, the Bolivian general who appeared to be behind the rebellion, was arrested hours later. He was arrested after the attorney general opened an investigation, but it wasn’t immediately clear what charges were against him.
Another twist to the story appeared when the general claimed in a comment before his arrest that “The president told me, ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity.”
Zuniga asked the President if he should take out the armoured vehicles, and he replied, “Take them out.”
Justice Minister Ivan Lima said Zunga was lying and trying to justify his actions.
Prosecutors are set to seek the maximum sentence of 15 to 20 years for Zuniga.
The rebellion followed months of tensions, with economic hardship and protests growing e ven stronger as two political titans battled for control of the ruling party.
