On Wednesday evening, Bolivian armed forces retreated from the presidential palace in La Paz, and General Juan Jose Zuniga was arrested after President Luis Arce denounced an attempted coup and sought international support.
Earlier, military units led by Zuniga, who had recently been stripped of his command, gathered in Plaza Murillo, home to the presidential palace and Congress. A Reuters witness reported seeing an armored vehicle ramming a door of the palace and soldiers rushing in.
“Today the country is facing an attempted coup d’état. Today the country faces once again interests so that democracy in Bolivia is cut short,” President Arce declared from the presidential palace, with armed soldiers outside. “The Bolivian people are summoned today. We need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d’état in favor of democracy.”
A few hours later, soldiers withdrew from the square, and police took control. Bolivian authorities arrested Zuniga and removed him to an undisclosed location. Inside the palace, Arce swore in José Wilson Sanchez as the new military commander, urging calm and the restoration of order.
“I order that all personnel mobilized on the streets return to their units,” Sanchez stated. “We entreat that the blood of our soldiers not be spilled.” The United States also called for calm and restraint while closely monitoring the situation.
Tensions have been high in Bolivia ahead of the 2025 general elections, with former President Evo Morales planning to run against Arce, causing a significant rift within the ruling socialist party and wider political uncertainty. Many Bolivians opposed Morales’ return after his 2006-2019 presidency ended amid widespread protests and an interim conservative government took over until Arce’s election in 2020.
Zuniga, who had previously stated Morales should not return as president and threatened to block him, was removed from his post by Arce. Before the attack on the palace, Zuniga addressed reporters in the square, expressing growing anger in Bolivia, which is battling an economic slump and pressure on its currency as gas exports have declined.
“The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express our dismay,” Zuniga told a local TV station, calling for a new cabinet of ministers. “Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army,” he said, insisting that the public supported their actions. Later, Zuniga claimed Arce had asked him to “raise something” to boost his popularity, without providing evidence.
Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo accused Zuniga of seeking popular support, noting that nine people were injured in the attempt, proving it was not a drill. Morales, head of the ruling MAS socialist party, declared his supporters would mobilize in defense of democracy.
“We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people,” Morales stated. Bolivia’s public prosecutor’s office announced a criminal investigation against Zuniga and others involved in the coup attempt.
Public support for Arce and Bolivia’s democracy came from regional leaders and beyond. “We express the strongest condemnation of the attempted coup d’état in Bolivia. Our total support and support for President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora,” said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on X.
Even conservative political opponents in Bolivia condemned the military action, including ex-President Jeanine Anez, who was imprisoned in 2022 amid political turmoil. “I fully reject the mobilization of the military in the Plaza Murillo attempting to destroy constitutional order,” she wrote on X. “The MAS with Arce and Evo must be got out through the vote in 2025. We Bolivians will defend democracy.”
