The coup attempt that threw Bolivia into chaos yesterday afternoon failed. Soldiers broke into the government palace and occupied Murillo Square while President Luis Arce was meeting with the entire cabinet. Then, following the orders of General Jose Wilson Sanchez Velasquez, they returned to the barracks to "avoid bloodshed."
At the height of tension, in mid-afternoon, while President Arce appeared in a live broadcast in the People's Palace with his entire cabinet determined to resist the coup attempt, the troops under the command of the now former commander Juan José Zuñiga broke into the building with an armored vehicle, forcing the main door of the building. A few minutes and the former commander - dismissed after publicly threatening former president Evo Morales - returned to the streets to ask for the resignation of Arce and his executive, and announce to the media the appointment of a new government and the release of all political prisoners.
Meanwhile, Morales called for a strike and mobilization, denouncing: "The coup d'état was prepared in advance."
At least 12 people were injured in the coup attempt, some were hit by shots fired by soldiers in and around Plaza Murillo in La Paz.
Former Army and Navy commanders Juan José Zúñiga and Juan Arnez Salvador were identified as the main architects of the attempted coup. The Minister of the Interior, Eduardo del Castillo, presented the two arrested people during a press conference in La Paz who will be tried for crimes related to internal security. Del Castillo explained that "there is another group of people who will be investigated for having contributed to the execution of the attempted coup." "Once they are convicted - he concluded - we will ensure that this does not happen again."
(Unioneonline/ss)