General Zuniga Arrested, Bolivian Prosecutors To Launch Investigation After Military Coup Efforts

Major General Juan Jose Zuniga at a Bolivian military event. (Facebook/Bolivian Army Forger of the Homeland_

JAKARTA - Major General Juan Jose Zuniga was arrested after a coup attempt carried out with his troops in the Bolivian presidential palace area, with prosecutors then launching an investigation into him.

The Bolivian military withdrew troops and armored vehicles from a government area in the capital Lapaz, hours after being in the presidential palace area on Wednesday.

Soldiers were also seen entering the building at around 16.00 local time, before withdrawing after receiving criticism from President Luis Arce, as reported by DW 27 June.

"We condemn the irregular mobilization of several Bolivian Army units. Democracy must be respected," President Arce said on social media as the military began arriving at Plaza Murillo in downtown La Paz.

In the palace, President Arce inaugurated General pundit Wilson Sryptez replacing Zuniga. General Sanchez asked the soldiers to return to their barracks and so that their leaders avoid bloodshed.

"I ordered all personnel mobilized on the streets to return to their units," General Sanchez said.

"We ask that the blood of our soldiers do not spill," he exclaimed.

The local television channel previously showed footage of President Arce meeting with Zuniga in the alley of the presidential palace.

"I am your captain and I order you to withdraw your army and I will not allow this disobedience," President Arce said.

Bolivian authorities arrested Major General Zuniga after troops withdrew from the square.

Citing the Times of India, Bolivian police arrested him late Wednesday on charges of masterminding a military coup in an attempt to overthrow President Luis Arce, according to state media reports. He was seen being herded into a police vehicle as he spoke to journalists outside a military barracks, according to the footage.

Meanwhile, Bolivia's public prosecutor's office said it would launch a criminal investigation into General Juan Jose Zuniga and other participants, as it led what the government and international leaders criticized as a coup attempt.

Ahead of the attack on the presidential palace, General Zuniga has spoken to reporters in the square and cited growing anger in the land-locked country, which has struggled with the economic downturn with central bank reserves running low, as well as pressure on the bolizianocurrencies as gas exports have dried up.

"Three heads of the armed forces have come to express our disappointment," General Zuniga told local TV stations, calling on a new cabinet of ministers. He did not call for President Arce's removal.

"Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop embarrassing our army," he said in a complete uniform, flanked by soldiers, insisting that the actions taken were supported by the public.