La Paz, Jun 26 (EFE).- A tank rammed through the doors of Bolivia’s seat of government at 3:51 pm local time, as the commander-in-chief of the Bolivian army, Juan José Zúñiga, threatened to take over the seat of government and change the cabinet.
Bolivian President Luis Arce went on state television to say that the country was “experiencing an attempted coup” and that he would “not allow this insubordination.”
Arce then dismissed Zuñiga and appointed new army commanders.
The former commander-in-chief of the Bolivian army announced his intention to “change the cabinet” and “free all political prisoners,” such as former interim president Jeanine Áñez, and “restore democracy” in the country.
“We will free Áñez, (Santa Cruz governor Luis Fernando) Camacho, (and) military prisoners,” Zúñiga told the media outside government headquarters, standing next to a tank.
Áñez responded with a statement on her social media, rejecting “the mobilization of the military in Plaza Murillo, pretending to destroy the constitutional order,” and calling for the government party to be democratically voted out of office.
From Paraguay, Bolivia’s representative to the Organization of American States, Héctor Arce, warned the international community of the “emergency situation.”
“We have not had a military coup in Latin America for more than 40 years, and I ask that it be treated with the responsibility and seriousness it deserves by the Organization of American States, whose primary objective should always be the defense of democracy,” said the Bolivian ambassador.
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, condemned “in the strongest terms these actions of the Bolivian army, which must submit to civilian authority, as required by the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” and expressed his “solidarity” with President Arce.
World leaders, including most Latin American presidents, the United States and the European Union, have condemned the incident. EFE
eb-mm/ics