AFP :
Bolivian authorities on Thursday paraded handcuffed detainees in front of the media, announcing 17 arrests after a botched coup d’etat that has deepened political turmoil in a country mired in severe economic crisis.
Tensions have been rising in recent weeks in the Andean nation over surging prices, shortages of dollars and fuel, and a feud between President Luis Arce and the powerful former president Evo Morales ahead of the 2025 election.
In his first public appearance since announcing that the coup attempt was over Wednesday night, Arce denied he had conspired with army chief Juan Jose Zuniga, who deployed troops and tanks to the heart of the capital La Paz, where they tried to break down a door of the presidential palace.
“How could one order or plan a coup on one’s self?” Arce told reporters, after Zuniga claimed to have been simply following orders and that Arce had hoped to trigger a crackdown that would boost his popularity.
Riot police kept close watch over government buildings Thursday, a day after Zuniga, surrounded by soldiers and tanks outside the presidency, said that “the armed forces intend to restructure democracy, to make it a true democracy and not one run by the same few people for 30, 40 years.”
Shortly thereafter, the soldiers and tanks pulled back from the historic Plaza Murillo square and local television broadcast images of Zuniga’s arrest.
Bolivia’s naval chief, Juan Arnez Salvador, was also arrested. The two men face up to 20 years in prison for the crimes of terrorism and armed uprising, prosecutors said.
Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo announced a total of 17 arrests, including active and retired military personnel and civilians, in connection to the attempted coup. Other suspects are still being sought. The government broadcast a conversation between Arce and Zuniga at the doors of the presidential mansion, surrounded by military personnel, in which Arce ordered his army chief to withdraw his troops to their barracks.
Zuniga replied with a blunt “No,” but left the presidential palace a few minutes later.
“We are going to defend democracy and the will of the Bolivian people, whatever the cost!” the 60-year-old Arce wrote on social media platform X. He has since sworn in new military leaders.