Soldiers swarm Bolivia's capital as president condemns apparent coup attempt
Huge numbers of soldiers and armoured vehicles have surrounded Bolivia's government district in an apparent coup attempt as the president fought to get control over the nation's armed forces.
President Luis Arce said an "irregular" deployment of troops was taking place in the capital, La Paz.
In a message on his X account, Arce called for "democracy to be respected."
Soldiers were seen all over central La Paz on Wednesday
It came as Bolivian television showed two tanks and a number of men in military uniform in front of the government palace.
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 organise.”
Arce confronted the general commander of the army, Juan José Zúñiga, who appeared to be leading the rebellion 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.
Hours after the initial unrest Acre said he had replaced the heads of the army, navy and air force.
The new army head ordered soldiers back to their barracks, and soon after troops and armoured vehicles started pulling back from Bolivia’s presidential palace.
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 recognises Arce as commander-in-chief.
He did not explicitly say he was 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.”
Military tanks were positioned in and around Plaza Murillo, a main plaza in La Paz where the national executive and legislative offices are located, state media agency ABI reports.
It is unknown why there are military units in Plaza Murillo and how many there are.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, also in a message on X, denounced the movement of the military in the Murillo square outside the palace, calling it a coup "in the making."
Maria Nela Prada, minister of the presidency and a top Bolivian official, said military and tanks were taking over the plaza, calling it an "attempted coup d’etat."
"The people are on alert to defend democracy," she said to local television station Red Uno.
The incident was met with a wave of outrage by other regional leaders, including the Organisation of American States (OAS); Gabriel Boric, the president of neighbouring Chile; Honduras’s leader, and former Bolivian leaders.
The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, condemned the mobilisations in the "most energetic way."
"The army must submit to the legitimately elected civil power,” Almagro wrote in X.
According to ABI, the military mobilization began around 2:30pm local time (6pm BST).
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