THIS is the shocking moment a Bolivian turncoat general is bundled away and arrested on live television after his botched military coup.
Bolivia suffered hours of agony as soldiers led by General Juan José Zúñiga took control of Plaza Murillo, in La Paz, and stormed the government’s presidential palace.
His troops managed to break in to Quemado Palace after they had broken through the gate with an armoured car.
Gen Zúñiga had been removed from his role on Tuesday after making inflammatory comments about Bolivia‘s former president, Evo Morales, during an interview.
He stated that he would arrest Morales if the former president ever returned to power.
On Wednesday, Zúñiga’s forces took control of the government of president Luis Arce as they vowed to “restore democracy”.
But president Arce swiftly dismantled the attempted coup and appointed a new army commander who gave the order to withdraw the troops.
After three hours, the uprising was put down as soldiers and a convoy of military vehicles pulled back from the centre of La Paz.
Hundreds of Arce’s supporters then flocked to the square outside the palace, singing the national anthem and waving Bolivian flags.
Dramatic footage showed demoted Zúñiga speaking to dozens of frenzied reporters as he was detained on suspicion of terrorism and armed uprising.
He was later seen cuffed and paraded by police officers in a true walk of shame as Zúñiga wore a black vest saying “aprehended”.
by Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter
GENERAL Juan José Zuñiga did not explicitly claimed his uprising as a military coup.
Instead, he told local television stations it was an “attempt to restore democracy” in Bolivia and “to free political prisoners.”
He told the press that there was a “mobilisation of all military units” due to “the situation in the country”.
“We are hearing the cry of the people. Because for many years an elite has been in control of the country,” Zúñiga declared.
“Owners of the State, vandals are in the different structures of the State, destroying the country.
“The Armed Forces intend to restructure democracy,” continued Zúñiga.
Moments before his arrest on live TV, the turncoat general claimed that Arce himself told him to storm the palace in a political move.
“The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity’,” Zúñiga quoted the Bolivian leader as saying.
There was no immediate response from Arce to the allegations.
Footage on Bolivian television showed Arce confronting Zúñiga in the palace hallway while the attempted coup took place.
Arcesaid: “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination.
Surrounded by ministers, he added: “Here we are, firm in Casa Grande, to confront any coup attempt. We need the Bolivian people to organise.”
After foiling the coup, the Bolivian president gave a televised speech surrounded by his cabinet members.
“We are firm to face any coup attempt,” he said.
“We want to urge everyone to defend democracy and we are here with the entire cabinet, with our social organisations.
“We greet you, social organisations, and we cordially invite you to once again show democracy to the Bolivian people.”
Arce also named new military leaders, including General José Wilson Sánchez, who assumed general command of the Army.
The Bolivian leader later went out to the presidential balcony and thanked the roaring crowds.
He said: “With you, with the people, we will never give up. No one can take away the democracy that we achieved at the polls and with the blood of the Bolivian people.”
Wednesday’s rebellion followed months of tensions, with economic hardship and protests growing ever stronger as two political titans Arce and his one-time ally, leftist former President Evo Morales battled for control of the ruling party.
Still, the apparent attempt to depose the sitting president appeared to lack any meaningful support, and even Arce’s rivals closed ranks to defend democracy and repudiate the uprising.
Bolivia, a country of 12 million people, has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s precipitous decline from one of the continents fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.
Bolivians are no strangers to political unrest as this week’s unrest marked the country’s 194th coup attempt, an expert said.
Political scientist Maurício Santoro told Globo G1: “Bolivia has 193 coups or coup attempts in its history.
“Today was number 194 and from what we are seeing it went wrong. It’s good that it went wrong, Bolivian democracy has shown that it has the antibodies to defend itself.”
In 2019, Morales was ousted as president following an earlier political crisis.
