The dismissal and arrest of the army commander in Bolivia after the failure of his coup attempt and the appointment of a new commander

Yesterday, Wednesday, Bolivian President Luis Arce appointed a new military command for the country after the dismissal and arrest of army chief General Juan Jose Zuniga, who carried out a "failed" coup attempt.

Scenes broadcast on state television showed members of the Bolivian police arresting Zuniga in front of a military barracks in the capital, and Interior Minister Johnny Aguilera addressed him at the time, saying, “You are under arrest, General.” The dismissed general was taken to the police station of the Special Anti-Crime Force.

Yesterday evening, Wednesday, media outlets and social networking sites circulated clips showing a tank trying to storm the government palace in the capital, La Paz.

Zuniga, who was inside the tank, surrounded by soldiers and eight other tanks, said, “The armed forces are trying to restructure democracy, to make it a real democracy. Not the democracy of some masters who have been running the country for 30 or 40 years.”

In response to these movements, Arce, in a speech addressed to his people, called for maintaining calm, adding: “The President of Bolivia and its ministers are at the top of their work, and I call on the people to protect democracy.” He stressed the need for the soldiers to withdraw immediately and return to their duties, saying: “I want them to respect democracy and the constitution.”

Appointment of a new army commander

Within hours, the soldiers began to withdraw from the square and the police took control of it. State television broadcast scenes of Jose Wilson Sanchez being sworn in at the presidential palace, in front of Arce, as army commander in place of Zuniga, who was quickly dismissed and arrested on charges of “carrying out a failed coup attempt.” “I order all personnel who were mobilized on the streets to return to their units,” Sanchez said. “We hope that the blood of our soldiers will not be shed.”

The soldiers who attempted to carry out a coup returned to their military units, in response to Sanchez's orders. As soon as the soldiers left the place, the president went out to the palace balcony to greet his supporters who had gathered in the hundreds in the square. "No one can take away the democracy we won," Arce said.

International condemnations

Many countries expressed their condemnation of the coup attempt in Bolivia, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on the X platform, “Spain strongly condemns the military actions in Bolivia. We send our support and solidarity to the Bolivian government and its people and call for respect for democracy and the rule of law.”

In turn, a spokesman for the US National Security Council said, “The United States is closely following the situation in Bolivia and calls for calm.” The leaders of Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Colombia also called for respect for democracy in Bolivia. “I am a lover of democracy and I hope it will prevail throughout Latin America,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on the X platform.

In neighboring Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro condemned an attempted “coup in Bolivia” orchestrated by “the far right with a military traitor.” As for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, he said that he was “deeply concerned” about developments in the situation in Bolivia.

For his part, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said in a post on the X platform: “The European Union condemns any attempt to disrupt the constitutional order in Bolivia and overthrow the democratically elected government.”

It was reported that Zuniga opposed the candidacy of former President Evo Morales in the presidential elections expected to be held in 2025, and informed the government of his discomfort with the candidacy. It was reported that soldiers led by Zuniga attempted to seize the government palace and form a new cabinet.