2024 Bolivian coup d'état attempt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 2024 Bolivian coup d'état attempt |
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 Plaza Murillo being surrounded by soldiers during the coup attempt |
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| President Luis Arce | General Juan José Zúñiga | ||||||
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On 26 June 2024, General Juan José Zúñiga, the commander of the Bolivian Army, attempted a coup d'état, sending troops to seize the Plaza Murillo in La Paz, the country's administrative capital, and storm the Casa Grande del Pueblo, the presidential palace. The previous day, President Luis Arce had ordered him relieved from his post for alleged threats he had made to former president Evo Morales.
Arce broadcasted his concerns of an ongoing coup, followed by similar condemnations from across the Bolivian political spectrum. Anti-coup protestors took to the streets and the Bolivian Workers' Center, the country's largest trade union federation, announced a general strike.
The coup attempt ended after Arce personally confronted Zúñiga in the presidential palace. Zúñiga and the heads of the Air Force and Navy were then immediately dismissed, and the new Army commander, José Wilson Sánchez, ordered troops back to their barracks. The coup attempt received widespread international condemnation.
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Background
On 25 June, the day before the coup attempt, General Juan José Zúñiga, commander of the Army, was relieved of his post in relation to statements that he had made against former president Evo Morales, and, according to Morales, threats Zúñiga had allegedly made against Morales, Senate President Andrónico Rodríguez and Senator Leonardo Loza. During an interview, Zúñiga announced that the Bolivian Armed Forces would arrest Morales if he run in the next presidential elections in 2025.
Military action
Bolivian television showed video of two tanks and a number of military personnel at Plaza Murillo in front of the government palace in La Paz. State media agency ABI reported that the mobilization began at roughly 2:30 p.m. BOT. Zúñiga was in the square and gave a statement on a local TV station saying: "The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express our dismay. There will be a new cabinet of ministers, surely things will change, but our country cannot continue like this any longer." He also said "political prisoners" including former president Jeanine Áñez would be released.
BBC reports showed the gate to Casa Grande del Pueblo, the presidential palace, being rammed with an armored vehicle, with soldiers storming the interior of the building. Morales said that a group of the Méndez Arcos Challapata Special Regiment took over Plaza Murillo with the assistance of snipers. At the same time, Arce made a broadcast from inside the palace calling the population to mobilize against the coup to protect democracy and Bolivian lives.
Bolivian civilians rushed to exchange houses, to financial institutions such as banks as well as shopping centers, pharmacies, markets, supermarkets, and vehicle refueling stations. The entire agglomeration was chaotic throughout the Bolivian territory.
The Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, approached one of the armored vehicles to demand that the soldiers get off and for a colonel explain his presence there.
Televised video showed Arce confronting Zúñiga in the presidential palace hallway, telling him: "I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination."
Arce, along with his entire cabinet, gave a message to the nation from the Casa Grande del Pueblo mobilizing protestors. A group of protesters surrounded several streets leading to Plaza Murillo, chanting in favor of the Arce government. The military deployed tear gas. The Bolivian Workers' Center, the country's main trade union federation, condemned the coup attempt and announced an immediate and indefinite strike.
During the coup attempt, Arce announced new heads of the Bolivian Army, Navy, and Air Force while stating that the troops that rose up against him were "staining the uniform". He appointed José Wilson Sánchez as the new Army chief, who ordered all troops taking part in the coup to return to their barracks. Troops and armored vehicles left the presidential palace soon after.
Aftermath
On the evening of 26 June, Bolivian police arrested Zúñiga. The Bolivian public prosecutor's office stated that it would criminally investigate the coup plotters.
After being arrested, Zúñiga declared that on 23 June, he met with Luis Arce, who allegedly ordered him to take tanks to the streets to carry out an attempted self-coup, since "it was necessary to prepare something to raise his popularity."
After the statements, former commander Zúñiga was taken to the offices of the Special Force to Fight Crime (FELCC), in La Paz. Later, Zúniga was presented to the Bolivian press as a "criminal", the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, presented a report of the events described by the Executive Branch as a "frustrated coup".
See also
In Spanish: Intento de golpe de Estado en Bolivia de 2024 para niños
- Coups d'état in Bolivia
