Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia’s government palace and soldiers stormed government buildings on Wednesday as a top government official warned of an attempted coup.
The country’s President Luis Arce came face-to-face with the general commander of the Army Juan José Zúñiga in the hallway of the Palacio Quemado as chaos unfolded in the capital, La Paz.
Arce slammed the ‘irregular’ deployment of troops as tanks and military men swarmed municipal buildings and tear gas filled the streets.
Video on Bolivian television showed Arce confronting Zúñiga and saying: “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination.”
Before entering the government building, Zúñiga told journalists in the plaza: “Surely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this.”
Zúñiga said that “for now” he recognizes Arce as commander in chief.
In a message on his X account, Arce called for “democracy to be respected.”
It came as Bolivian television showed two tanks and a number of men in military uniform in front of the government palace.
“We cannot allow, once again, coup attempts to take the lives of Bolivians,” he said from inside the palace, surrounded by government officials, in a video message sent to news outlets.
