Soldiers surround presidential palace in attempted coup

Bolivia’s presidential palace has been stormed by soldiers as the country’s president warned of an unfolding “coup”.

Troops blocked off the entrances to La Paz’s Murillo Square, where key government buildings are located, before ramming the doors of the main government building. Soldiers then entered the building.

President Luis Arce had earlier warned on social media of “irregular mobilisations of some army units”. “Democracy must be respected,” he said.

Bolivian minister Maria Nela Prada published a video on her Facebook account showing the view from a window in a government building.

“I’m in the palace of the people. As you can see this is the Plaza Murillo taken by armed tanks and troops,” she said.

Mr Arce subsequently urged Bolivians to mobilise against a “coup d’etat”

“We need the Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d’etat in favor of democracy,” Arce said in a televised message to the country alongside his ministers inside the presidential palace.

“We cannot allow coup attempts to take Bolivian lives once again,” he added.

The military officer in charge of the troops which took over central La Paz, General Juan José Zúñiga, said he recognised President Arce “for the moment” but that there would be a change of ministers and cabinet.

“We are going to recover this homeland,” General Juan José Zúñiga said from Murillo Square after it was taken by troops.

“An elite has taken over the country, vandals who have destroyed the country,” Gen Zúñiga said. “The army intends to restore true democracy.”

He said “political prisoners” including jailed former leader Jeanine Áñez would be freed.

Rumours have been swirling for days that Gen Zúñiga was on the verge of being dismissed. The military chief appeared on television on Monday and said he would arrest former left-wing president Evo Morales if he ran for office again next year.

Mr Morales – who quit as president and was replaced by Ms Áñez after the chief of the army urged him to step down amid protests over allegations of vote-rigging in the 2019 election – called on supporters of democracy to strike and block roads.

“I ask democratically-minded people to defend the homeland from certain military groups that act against democracy and the people,” he said.

The US said it was monitoring the situation in Bolivia closely, and urged restraint, the White House national security spokesman said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU condemned any attempt to break the constitutional order.

Mr Morales, the first president to come from Bolivia’s indigenous majority, carried out a radical programme after winning power in 2005, aimed at addressing extreme social divisions and inequalities.

The former coca union leader resigned in 2019 after attempting to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term in power. He was succeeded by opposition senator Jeanine Áñez, who declared herself interim president in November 2019.

Mr Arce won the October 2020 presidential election, returning the Mas socialist party to power.