Army Commander Refusing President’s Order to Withdraw: Bolivian Coup Underway

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian President Luis Arce said Wednesday in a video message, surrounded by his cabinet, that he was standing firm against an attempted coup.

Armored vehicles assaulted the government palace in the South American nation. Bolivian television showed two tanks and a number of men in military uniform outside the building.

In a message on the social platform X, Arce called for democracy to be respected.

The leadership of Bolivia’s largest labor union has also condemned what it calls an attempted coup d’état and declared an indefinite strike of social and labor organizations in La Paz in defense of the government.

Bolivian President Luis Arce has told the army general commander, who appeared to be leading the rebellion: “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination.”

Before entering the government palace, Juan José Zúñiga told journalists in the plaza outside that “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.

Zúñiga did not explicitly say whether he is leading a coup, but in the palace, with bangs echoing behind him, he said the army was trying to “restore democracy and free our political prisoners.”

Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup, insisted he stands firm and urged people to mobilize.

In a video of Arce surrounded by ministers in the palace, he said: “The country is facing an attempted coup d’état. Here we are, firm in Casa Grande, to confront any coup attempt. We need the Bolivian people to organize.”

Arce confronted the general commander of the Army, Juan José Zúñiga, in the palace hallway, as shown on video on Bolivian television. “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce said.

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