Fears of coup attempt in Bolivia as soldiers storm presidential palace | Military News

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Regioinal organisations rally behind Bolivian government as troops and armoured vehicles gather in the capital.

Soldiers have stormed Bolivia’s presidential palace in what appears to be an attempted coup d’etat, as President Luis Arce denounced the “irregular mobilisation” of the country’s army.

Arce called on the armed forces to demobilise immediately and said he would address the nation.

Video on Bolivian television on Wednesday showed Arce confronting the general commander of the army, Juan Jose Zuniga, in the palace hallway. “I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce said.

Before he entered the building, Zuniga addressed reporters in the capital.

“Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army,” he said.

“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,” Zuniga told a local TV station.

Former President Evo Morales denounced the movement of the military in the Murillo square outside the palace, calling it a coup “in the making”.

“We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people,” he said.

Latin American leaders and organisations condemned the army’s actions on Wednesday.

“We condemned the events in Bolivia. The army must submit itself to the legitimately elected civil power,” Luis Almagro, leader of the Organization of American States (OAS) said following news reports that a tank had slammed into the doors of the national palace, clearing a path for soldiers to enter.

The scenes have brought alarm to the Andean nation, where former left-wing President Morales, from the same party as Arce, was ousted from office in events many described as a coup in 2019.

Photos from The Associated Press show soldiers clearing away journalists near the presidential palace in the capital of La Paz. Armoured vehicles and heavily armed soldiers were present.

Denunciamos movilizaciones irregulares de algunas unidades del Ejército Boliviano. La democracia debe respetarse.

— Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia) June 26, 2024

“We express the strongest condemnation of the attempted coup d’etat in Bolivia,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro called the mobilisation a “criminal coup d’etat” and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the group of European states condemns any attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government.