Buenos AiresAfter a tense afternoon in downtown La Paz, when several military squads occupied Plaza Murillo and violently entered Bolivia’s government headquarters in a coup attempt that quickly disintegrated, President Luis Arce has been the subject of both praise and criticism from his fellow citizens. While on Wednesday evening, local time, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Government Palace to applaud the president and support him, sectors critical of Arce have continued to fuel, without evidence, the theory of a media show and setup : “There are many things that do not add up”, points out William Flores, Bolivian journalist, in conversation with ARA: “First of all, a coup d’état does not last two hours”. Former army commander Juan José Zúñiga, leader of the uprising, told the detainee that the coup had been ordered by Arce himself in an attempt to improve his public image.
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And the fact is that Arce’s leadership is questioned by a part of the Bolivian population, especially in relation to the country’s economic management: Bolivia has a significant shortage of dollars, a fact that has damaged access to tickets or goods import, whose price has also increased. On the other hand, Arce himself has recognized that the hydrocarbon situation is critical: Bolivia has gone from being a net exporter of energy to having to import it and, with a lack of currency, the purchase becomes even more complicated. “How is it that the president comes face to face with the military who is supposed to be generating a coup?” asks Flores: “Everyone knows that in such a situation the president is the first target to be captured and, therefore, it is the first one that needs care and protection. Instead, Arce came out like a superhero to show the people that he is not afraid.”
Flores refers to a scene that will pass down to posterity. Arce confronted General Zúñiga when he occupied Murillo Square in La Paz, the country’s political center, with assault carts and soldiers. The president, openly angry, shouted at him:Be careful, they are carrying out a coup against the Bolivian people! I will not allow it! If you respect yourself as a soldier, withdraw all your forces. That is an order!” The images of the discussion, which favor the president, have gone viral. Behind Arce was also shouting María Nela Prada, his right hand and Minister of the Presidency, who said: “Traitor!” Shortly afterwards, Minister Prada wanted to emphasize the courage of President Arce, who faced the military directly. “The president’s decision was to stay and deal with Zúñiga”, she pointed out. It is surprising to many that the military rebels did not take advantage of this confrontation to arrest the country’s main authorities or, directly, kill them.
This Thursday La Paz woke up completely normal, with the exception of a reinforcement of police surveillance in Plaça Murillo. Flores acknowledges that on Wednesday there was a moment of “psychosis”, where in the midst of the confusion people went out to buy essential goods to store at home, but that immediately everything calmed down. All airports in the country closed, by decision of the civil authorities.
Where there was movement this Thursday was in the neighboring city of El Alto, a key district of officialism. Groups of protesters have taken to the streets and burned tires and unloaded truckloads of sand, stones and logs to block traffic routes to La Paz. In addition, several social organizations and unions have declared an indefinite strike and permanent mobilization. Other cities in the country, such as Cochabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Oruro or Potosí, have practically not echoed the mobilizations.
Elections on the horizon
Time will tell if the attempted military uprising ends up strengthening Arce’s power, which, at least for the time being, emerges refloated. We must not forget that, in the background, there is the internal conflict over the official Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party, between the current president Luis Arce and the former president Evo Morales. The 2019 coup forced Evo into exile after three terms in power, and in 2020 his successor Arce won the election, but when Evo returned to Bolivia the distance between the two leaders widened: they are currently contesting the candidacy for the 2025 presidential elections, in which Evo was supposed to be unable to run.
The “evident” factions of the MAS have fueled the theory of an autocoup that would serve to victimize Arce and harm Evo. “I think that Evo may come out more harmed than benefited from this episode – Flores calculates – and he may even be accused of having created the uprising himself with the military”.
2024-06-27 20:36:46
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