Gen. Juan José Zúñiga (second right) being held authorities
Source: Africa Publicity
A senior Bolivian Army officer, Gen. Juan José Zúñiga, has been arrested after leading a failed coup attempt against Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce.
Gen. Zúñiga had led a group of soldiers with armored vehicles on Wednesday, June 2024, vowing to “restore democracy” in the South American nation.
The armored vehicles rammed the doors of the Bolivian government palace, with President Luis Arce, describing the soldiers action as a coup attempt.
But the soldiers quickly retreated despite initially appearing to have taken total control of the nation of about 12 million people. The rebellion lasted for about three hours.
Bolivia Government Minister, Eduardo del Castillo, told the nation aside Zúñiga, an ex-navy Vice Admiral Juan Arnez Salvador, was also arrested and taken into custody.
Announcing the arrests to journalists, del Castillo stated, “What was this group’s goal? The goal was to overturn the democratically elected authority.”
Bolivia has faced months of tensions and political fights between Arce and his one-time ally, former leftist president Evo Morales, over control of the ruling party. The country has also been facing severe economic crisis.
Have a press release, feature, article for publication? Send it to us via Whatsapp on +233543452542.
