(27 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
La Paz, Bolivia – 26 June 2024
1. Soldiers in Murillo square with shields on
2. Soldiers clashing with protesters and using pepper spray on them
3. Soldiers fire tear gas on the crowd
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jhonny Aguilera, Interior Vice Minister:
"This act violates all the basic pillars of the rule of law. We cannot tolerate this circumstance in the 21st century, and we demand those who show disrespect for the laws that stop these behaviors."
5. President Luis Arce comes out of the presidential palace to acknowledge the crowd
6. People cheer President Arce
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luis Arce, Bolivian President:
"They wanted to surprise us and surprise the Bolivian people. We have reacted, and the mobilized people have also allowed us to reverse this coup attempt today. Thank you, Bolivian people."
8. Arce and his cabinet
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Juan José Zúñiga, former general commander of the Army:
"The president told me: ‘The situation is very complicated; this week is going to be critical, so it is necessary to prepare something to boost my popularity.’ So I asked: Do we take out the armored vehicles? ‘Take them out’ (President Arce allegedly said). So on Monday, not Sunday night, the armored vehicles begin to descend (to La Paz)."
10. Zúñiga is arrested
11. Various of armored vehicle
STORYLINE:
After a Bolivian army’s armored vehicles rammed the doors of the government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup, the government and an army general exchanged accusations.
A group of soldiers entered the presidential palace, apparently led by General Juan José Zúñiga, then general commander of the Army.
Zúñiga did not explicitly say he’s 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.”
President Luis Arce confronted the general commander of the army in the palace hallway, vowing to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down.
Standing outside the government palace while the events unfolded, Jhonny Aguilera, Interior Vice Minister, said the attack was an "act violates all the basic pillars of the rule of law."
The soldiers later pulled back as supporters of Arce waved Bolivian flags and cheered in a central square.
Later, when being arrested, Zúñiga said Arce had ordered him to use armored vehicles and "prepare something" in order to boost his popularity.
When the events calmed down, Arce stood on the presidential balcony to address his supporters and thanked the people who protested "to reverse this coup attempt."
The leadership of Bolivia’s largest labor union condemned the action and declared an indefinite strike of social and labor organizations in La Paz in defense of the government.
The incident was met with a wave of outrage by other regional leaders, including the Organization of American States; Gabriel Boric, the president of neighboring Chile; the leader of Honduras, and former Bolivian leaders.
Bolivia, a country of 12 million people, has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s precipitous decline from one of the continent’s fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.
The country also has seen a high-profile rift at the highest levels of the governing party. Arce and his one-time ally, leftist icon and former President Evo Morales, have been battling for the future of Bolivia’s splintering Movement for Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS, ahead of elections in 2025.
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