Bolivia’s president is urging citizens to defend democracy as the military overruns presidential palace.
The military in Bolivia rammed the presidential palace entrance in what appeared to be an attempted coup by a general, reports the New York Times.
According to the report, standing on the doorstep of the palace and surrounded by members of the armed forces, General Juan José Zúñiga claimed that the Bolivian Army, air force and navy were “mobilised.”
Meanwhile, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce urged citizens to take to streets to defend him against the composts, warning the country’s democracy is at stake after troops seized control of La Paz and military police overwhelmed the presidential palace.
The coup attempt failed.
“The country is facing an attempted coup d’état,” Mr Arce, who was surrounded by his ministers, said in a video. “Here we are, firm in Casa Grande, to confront any coup attempt. We need the Bolivian people to organise.”
The Bolivian president added, “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination.”
In a message on X, Mr Arce declared, “We cannot allow, once again, coup attempts to take the lives of Bolivians.
Shortly after his rallying call in defence of democracy, Mr Arce announced new heads of the armed forces.
“I ordered all that are mobilised to return to their units. No one wants the images we’re seeing in the streets,” said the new army chief, José Wilson Sanchez.
Following the command, troops and armoured tanks began withdrawing from the presidential palace.
