More Bolivia Military, Civilian Leaders Arrested Over Army Chief Led Coup Hours After Dismissal ~ OsazuwaAkonedo #Juan #Luis #Arce #Bolivia #Coup #José #military #Zúñiga https://osazuwaakonedo.news/more-bolivia-military-civilian-leaders-arrested-over-army-chief-led-coup-hours-after-dismissal/28/06/2024/ #Breaking News Published: June 28th, 2024 Reshared: June 28, 2024 3:38 pm Bolivia government has confirmed that the Wednesday botched military coup in the
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00:00Bolivia government has confirmed that the Wednesday botched military coup in the country
00:03was first planned by some military leaders and the civilian staff of the detained and
00:06dismissed army chief, General Joan José Zuliga in the month of May, 2024.
00:11The Bolivian government statement made available on Thursday indicated that the civilian staff
00:15of the detained former army chief is the one that developed the operational strategies
00:18to execute the botched coup.
00:20Consequently, a video posted online showed numbers of military and civilian leaders being
00:24arrested and taken into custody in addition to the three top military generals earlier
00:28arrested and detained in connection with the botched coup on Wednesday.
00:31President Luis Azar has refuted claims that the botched coup was state-managed as a political
00:35stunt requested by him to gain popularity.
00:37CNN1 reporting the Bolivian government press statement stated in court thus, Bolivia has
00:42arrested more than a dozen high-ranking military and intelligence officials following a fraud
00:46attempt to unseat the country's president in a coup allegedly led by its former army
00:49chief.
00:50Military officials first held meetings in May to plot the coup attempt on Wednesday,
00:54which involved mobilizing armed forces toward the capital's main square and seizing power
00:58by force, according to a report sent to CNN by the Bolivian government.
01:02The meetings were led by former army chief General Joan José Zuliga and former navy
01:06commander General Joan Ales, with Zuliga's civilian personal advisor allegedly devising
01:09the strategy of the coup, the report claims.
01:12All three men are among 17 people arrested so far in connection with Wednesday's events,
01:17most of them members of the military, the report says.
01:20Other top officials arrested include military intelligence chief Julio B. Trabu.
01:24The coup attempt, which was condemned by the Bolivian government and international
01:27leaders, comes as the South American country of roughly 12 million people struggles with
01:31an economic crisis and political instability that has followed mass street protests, CNN
01:35report ends in quote.
01:36It would be recalled that the two major military leaders that led the coup against the government
01:40of Bolivia are botched by large crowds of civilians on Wednesday have since been arrested.
01:44The Bolivian military coup was thwarted as citizens outnumbered national police and military
01:48troops, forcing the security operatives to withdraw from the presidential palace and
01:52run for safety to avoid using their weapons to kill innocent civilians, as seen in the
01:55videos posted online by residents and eyewitnesses.
01:58Former army and navy commanders Joan José Zuliga and Joan Ales Salvador were identified
02:03as the main architects of the coup attempt and were arrested immediately.
02:07Bolivian defense minister Edmundo Lóvilo reportedly confirmed that Joan José Zuliga
02:10was dismissed on Tuesday night by President Luis Arce.
02:13At a press conference, interior minister Eduardo Adel Castillo said the two officers would
02:17be tried for crimes related to internal security.
02:20In the troops led by Bolivia's army general, Commander Joan José Zuliga had attempted
02:24a coup by seizing the presidential palace and surrounding square.
02:28Reports said a tank rammed the palace doors.
02:30However, after international condemnation and pressure, General Zuliga ordered his soldiers
02:34to retreat within hours.
02:36President Arce pressed the withdrawal as a win for Bolivia's democracy and addressed
02:39the nation following protests against the alleged coup attempt.
02:42According to Reuters, Bolivian armed forces pulled back from the presidential palace in
02:46La Paz and the general was arrested after President Luis Arce's slumpy coup attempt
02:50against the government and called for international support.
02:53Earlier in the day, military units led by General Joan José Zuliga, recently stripped
02:58of his military command, had gathered in the central plaza Murillo Square, home to the
03:02presidential palace and congress.
03:04Today the country is facing an attempted coup d'état.
03:07Today the country faces once again interests so that democracy in Bolivia is cut short,
03:11as said in comments from the presidential palace, with armed soldiers outside.
03:15The Bolivian people are summoned today.
03:17We need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d'état in favor
03:21of democracy.
03:22A few hours later, a Reuters witness saw soldiers withdraw from the square and police take control
03:26of the plaza.
03:27Bolivian authorities arrested Zuliga and took him away, though their destination was unclear.
03:32Inside the presidential palace, Arce saw in José Wilson Sánchez as the military commander,
03:37Zuliga's former role.
03:38He called for camp and ordered to be restored.
03:41I order that all personnel mobilized on the streets return to their units, Sánchez said.
03:45We entreat that the blood of our soldiers not be spilled.
03:48Tensions have been building in Bolivia ahead of general elections in 2025, with leftist
03:53ex-president Evo Morales planning to run against former alias, creating a major rift in the
03:57ruling Socialist Party and wider political uncertainty.
04:00Many do not want a return of Morales, who governed from 2006 to 2019 when he was ousted
04:05amid widespread protests and replaced by an interim conservative government.
04:09As than one election in 2020, according to Reuters, we have reported on Wednesday that
04:13irregular movement and mobilization of soldiers have been observed around the presidential
04:17palace in Bolivia and the state capital's central square, igniting a fear of possible
04:21military coup in the South American country.
04:23Bolivian President Luis Arce announced the irregular mobilization of some army units
04:28in La Paz and former leader Evo Morales accused a top general of plotting a coup.
04:32A recent video showed the Bolivian President Luis Arce in a direct first-to-first confrontation
04:36with the leader behind the attempted military coup in Bolivia, right at the entrance of
04:40the presidential palace.
04:41Photos and videos taken outside Bolivia's presidential palace in La Paz on Wednesday,
04:45June 26, and posted online showed military police outside the main entrance as an armoured
04:50vehicle rammed into the door of the palace.
04:52Soldiers were also seen firing tear gas outside the legislative assembly as President Luis
04:56Arce raised alarm of an irregular deployment of troops in the capital.
05:00Bolivian television also showed us confronting the General Jose Zuliga, the general commander
05:04of the army in a hallway in the palace.
05:06I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,
05:11Arce said.
05:12Zuliga told journalists before entering the palace, surely soon there will be a new cabinet
05:16of ministers.
05:17Our country, our state cannot go on like this.
05:20He added that, for now, he recognizes President Arce as commander-in-chief, the AP reports.
05:25Protests in Bolivia have intensified in the last few months as the Bolivian economy worsens
05:29and Arce and his former ally, former President Evo Morales have been fighting for the future
05:33of the country's movement for socialism M.A.S. ahead of 2025 elections.
05:37Bolivian armed forces took over the capital's central square on Wednesday, and an armoured
05:41vehicle rammed through the entrance to the presidential palace followed by soldiers,
05:45igniting fears of a military coup.
05:47Residents said heavily armed soldiers and armoured vehicles were seen gathering in the
05:51central square, Plaza Morillo, while an armoured vehicle pushed into the presidential palace,
05:55which sits on the square, and soldiers rushing in.
05:58The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express our dismay.
06:03There will be a new cabinet of ministers.
06:05Surely things will change, but our country cannot continue like this any longer, General
06:09John Joseph Zuniga told a local TV station.
06:12Zuniga addressed reporters in the square prior to the assault on the national palace.
06:16Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army, he said in full
06:21uniform, flanked by soldiers, insisting the action being taken was supported by the public.
06:26Sasuwa Angnedo, Brengen Youth News in a more digital way.