Sucre: Dramatic scenes unfolded in Bolivia on Wednesday as armoured vehicles of the military rammed into the government palace as President Luis Arce faced an attempted coup. Military units led by General Juan Jose Zuniga, recently stripped of his military command, had gathered in the central Plaza Murillo square, home to the presidential palace and Congress to what he called "showing support to democracy".
In a tense stand-off that lasted three hours, in which President Arce confronted Zuniga as said, "I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination", soldiers withdrew from the plaza and Zuniga was arrested, crushing the coup attempt and defusing another crisis in the country wracked by a bitter political rivalry and economic crises.
Zuniga had vowed to “restore democracy,” replace the cabinet, and free political prisoners as his troops seized control of the capital's main square and fired tear gas on protesters. However, it was apparent that the coup had no meaningful political support as Arce appointed a new military commander, Jose Wilson Sanchez, who ordered troops to stand down, and all heads of the armed forces were replaced. Supporters of Arce soon gathered in the plaza, waving Bolivian flags in support of the president.
What triggered the coup attempt?
Zuniga told journalists gathered at the plaza outside the palace that the army was trying to "restore democracy and free our political prisoners". "Surely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this," he added. Before the attack, the deposed army commander highlighted growing anger in the landlocked country, which has been battling an economic slump with depleted central bank reserves.
Bolivians have increasingly been suffering the pains of slow growth, surging inflation and scarcity of dollars. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolivia's economy had grown by 4 per cent nearly every year in the 2010s. However, commodity prices plunged in 2014 and the government diped into its currency reserves to sustain public spending. It went on to use its gold reserves and even dollar bonds locally.
Upon assuming the presidency himself in 2020, Arce encountered a bleak economic reckoning from the pandemic, which worsened due to diminished gas production. Now, the country is struggling to import fuel. The International Monetary Fund forecasts growth of just 1.6 per cent in Bolivia in 2024, the country's slowest growth.
Political infighting in Bolivia
Arce had been finance minister during nearly the entire decade of strong growth, under leftist icon President Evo Morales. With this unprecedented slow economic growth, Arce and Morales have clashed in a political fight that has paralysed the government's efforts to deal with the despairing situation. The fighting created a major rift in the ruling socialist party and wider political uncertainty.
Morales' decision to run against his former ally worsened the situation. Reports show that many do not want a return of Morales, who governed from 2006-2019 when he was ousted amid widespread protests and replaced by an interim conservative government. Zuniga said recently that Morales should not be able to return as president and threatened to block him if he attempted to, which led Arce to remove Zuniga from his post.
Since its independence in 1825, Bolivia has had more than 190 coup attempts and revolutions as part of occasional conflicts between political elites in urban areas and disenfranchised by mobilised rural sectors. Morales was forced to resign and flee the country after his victory in the 2019 elections was replete with allegations of fraud, setting off mass protests that killed 36 people.
An interim government from the right-wing opposition took control, led by Jeanine Áñez and Morales’ Movement for Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS, called it a coup. Morales was apparently not content with Arce running for re-election unchallenged and announced plans to run in the 2025 presidential race against the 60-year-old President.
Reactions to the attempted coup
On June 24, 2024, Zuniga declared that the Bolivian Armed Forces would arrest Evo Morales if he ran in the 2025 presidential elections. He labelled Morales a "traitor" and accused him of plotting a revolution against the current government, and he was stripped of his position on the next day. Zuniga, before his arrest, claimed that Arce had instructed him to storm the government palace to boost his popularity.
President Arce condemned the attempted coup, describing it as an atypical day for a country that desires democracy. He accused the rebellious troops of staining their uniforms and attacking the Constitution. Morales, on similar lines, said his supporters would mobilize in support of democracy. "We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people," he added.
Even conservative political opponents of the government 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.
Public support for Arce and Bolivia's democracy has poured in 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," Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on X. "I firmly condemn the attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government of Bolivia. The European Union stands by democracies. We express our strong support for the constitutional order and rule of law in Bolivia," said European Parliament chief Ursula von der Leyen. Russia's foreign ministry also expressed its "full, unwavering support" to Arce.
(with inputs from agencies)
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