This was probably the shortest lived coup d’état in Bolivia’s history. But who was behind it?
As NC readers are no doubt well aware by now, the South American country of Bolivia suffered yet another coup attempt on Wednesday — its second in just five years, and according to the Argentine newspaper El Cronista, its 36th since gaining independence from Spain 199 years ago. Research cited by CNN (in an article that, predictably, doesn’t once mention the US’ storied role in regime change operations) claims that Bolivia has actually suffered 39 coups, including this one, since 1945 alone — more than any country on the planet.
This was probably the shortest lived coup in all that time.
Whereas the 2019 coup was successful, at least in terms of meeting its immediate goals — the coup leaders, with the help of Bolivia’s armed forces and the tacit support of the US government and the Organization of American States (OAS), were able to topple the Evo Morales government and force Morales into exile — this one fizzled out in a matter of hours, leaving big unresolved questions about who was actually behind it.
A Powerless Coup
The coup began on Wednesday afternoon (local time) with an armoured military vehicle ramming the doors of Bolivia’s Palacio de Gobierno. When the doors gave way, dozens of armed soldiers surged into the building. The former Commander General of Bolivia’s armed forces, Juan José Zuñiga, who had been relieved of his position just a day earlier, stepped out of the vehicle and demanded a “change of cabinet.”
Speaking to the cameras, Zuñiga fired off a list of grievances and demands:
“Ministers are going to be changed, but our State cannot continue like this, doing whatever it wants. We are showing our annoyance, it is our duty, an obligation that your Armed Forces take back this homeland again. Enough of impoverishing the people and humiliating the Army… We have come to express our annoyance. We are going to take the Casa Grande (the Big House, the new seat of political power in Bolivia).”
Zuñiga claimed that he and his fellow coup plotters had coordinated the seizure of the National Palace with local police units. Tellingly, the former commander also called for the release of former interim President Jeanine Áñez, who is currently serving 10 years in prison for orchestrating the 2019 coup against Evo Morales. Asked if he recognised the authority of President Luis “Lucho” Arce Catacora, Zuñiga responded: “For the moment.”
Zúñiga’s biggest bugbear appears to have been Evo Morales, the former president and founder of Bolivia’s governing party, Movimiento al Socialismo. Just days before the coup the then-military commander criticised former Morales’ aspirations to return to politics in an interview with a local television channel, warning that he and his soldiers would, if necessary, take action to prevent such an outcome:
“He can no longer be president of this country. If necessary, I will prevent him from trampling on the Constitution, from disobeying the people’s mandate.”
This was enough to lose Zúñiga his job.
“According to Article 246 of the Constitution, members of the Armed Forces must not discuss politics,” political scientist Lily Peñaranda told the Spanish broadcaster RTVE. “And Zúñiga was accused of having discussed politics precisely in that interview.”
Throughout the melee on Wednesday, the Arce Government remained at its stations in the Casa Grande, which replaced the National Palace as the seat of executive power in La Paz in 2018. Surrounded by his cabinet, Arce announced that Bolivia “cannot allow another coup to take Bolivian lives” [presumably in reference to Jeanine Áñez’s bloody coup against Evo Morales in 2019]:
”We urge everyone to defend democracy. And here we are, standing firm in la Casa Grande, with the entire cabinet. We salute the social organisations and cordially invite them to once again show the path of democracy to the Bolivian people.”
Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry issued the following statement:
The Plurinational State of Bolivia denounces to the international community the irregular mobilizations of some units of the Bolivian army, which threaten the country’s democracy, peace and security.
We call on the international community and the Bolivian population to respect democratic values and support the government of President Luis Arce Catacora, constitutionally and legitimately elected by the sovereign will of the Bolivian people.
Crucially, Bolivia’s still-influential former president, Evo Morales, who is locked in an escalating power struggle with Arce, denounced from his Twitter account “that a Group of the Challapata Special Regiment ‘Mendez Arcos’ have taken over Plaza Murillo with snipers.” Morales called on the supporters of democracy in Bolivia to “defend the Homeland from military groups that are acting against democracy and the people.”
The response was swift…
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Nick Corbishley 