Fears seized the population after heavily armed tanks and military raided the headquarters of the Government of Bolivia under the command of Zuñiga.
Fears seized the population after heavily armed tanks and military raided the headquarters of the Government of Bolivia under the command of Zuñiga.
The Bolivian Minister of Government (Interior), Eduardo del Castillo, said that the intention of the ousted army commander Juan José Zúñiga was to take command of the country and that the attempted coup d’état, which occurred, was not a drill.
Del Castillo, who publicly presented Zúñiga to the media after his arrest, referred to the ousted military chief as a “criminal” who sought to defeat a democratically elected authority (Luis Arce).
Zúñiga, leader of the coup attempt
“The point of Zúñiga was taking command of our country, to become captain general of the Armed Forces,” he said.
The minister also presented the ousted commander of the Navy Vice Admiral Juan Arnez, who is presumed to have collaborated and participated in the military takeover of this day.
These only two people did not act alone, they were not two people who planned and conspired to overthrow a democratically elected government (…) there are other people identified, Del Castillo said.
He pointed out that in these events there was a political management, since by this week some sectors had already announced protests and Zúñiga was looking to get popular support.
Judgment for armed uprising.
The minister said that the government will make every effort to ensure that Zúñiga and Arnez are sentenced for armed uprising, attacking the president and the destruction of public and private property – although it will also be analyzed whether an indictment for other crimes is appropriate.
“The coup d’état has failed to be consummated thanks to the commitment and fresh memory of the Bolivian people,” Del Castillo stressed.
Fears seized the population after heavily armed tanks and military raided the headquarters of the Government of Bolivia under the command of Zúñiga.
Bolivian President Luis Arce denounced that there was an “attempted coup d’état.”
During the military occupation, Zúñiga said he was looking to “restructure democracy” and that the first step he would take would be the release of those he considered political prisoners.
Minutes later, Zúñiga and his armed troops withdrew from Plaza Murillo, in the center of the city, after President Arce relieved the commanders of the Armed Forces and ordered him to redeploy.
Resistance to coup d’état
With the military retreating, the officials and followers of President Luis Arce gathered in front of the presidential headquarters, where they celebrated that they resisted the “attempted coup d’état.”
At the end of the day, Zúñiga was arrested after the police executed a prosecutor’s arrest warrant against him.
This article has been translated after first appearing in El Salvador