Bolivia coup attempt, live | 10 soldiers involved in failed coup arrested

A deputy from the ‘archist’ wing accused Evo Morales and his allies in the Senate of plotting a coup

Rolando Cuéllar, deputy of the Movement Towards Socialism – the governing party – and close to President Luis Arce, said this Wednesday that former Bolivian president Evo Morales and people like him are behind the coup attempt by former commander Juan José Zúñiga -considered in the Senate.

Cuellar said the aim was to capture Arce and Vice President David Choquehuanca so that, by constitutional succession, Senate President Andronico Rodriguez could assume power. The upper house of power in Bolivia is a close ally of Morales.

Less than 24 hours after the events at the Bolivian government headquarters, the shootout between Arce and Morales followers added another page to their internal dispute within the ruling party, in view of the presidential candidate election for the general elections that they should hold in 2025.

“Andronico Rodriguez is part of this coup. This is shown by Mr. Zuniga’s speech yesterday in which it is clearly stated that ‘he has asked to release me and appoint a new cabinet.’ Andronico Rodriguez was going to take office,” he said during a press conference.

Likewise, Cuéllar sees inconsistencies in Zúñiga’s statements this Tuesday, in which he said that the coup attempt was an order from Arce himself to “boost his popularity.” In the former commander’s statement to the press before he was arrested, he suggested that he had met with the president last Sunday to discuss the occupation of the government palace. However, Cuéllar says that in an interview on Tuesday night, Zúñiga said he had not seen the president for three weeks.

“This is obviously false. We ask the Prosecutor’s Commission to open a very serious investigation into this.” evistas, Evo Morales, because Rodríguez should have taken office yesterday with the help of these military coup plotters,” he concluded.