The Bolivian government revealed that Zúñiga was going to move a plane and troops to La Paz to carry out the coup.
Minister of the Government of Bolivia, Eduardo del CastilloThis Saturday it was revealed that the dismissed former commander Juan Jose Zuniga On Wednesday a plane and military units were planned to be moved from other cities to La Paz “Attempted coup” of the state.“We received a radiogram indicating the transfer of a Hercules (military) plane that was going to bring a group of Satinists to La Paz,” del Castillo told the press.
According to the minister, the plane was going to leave the city of Tarija, in the south of the country, where the Satinator unit is located, high-ranking soldiers trained to carry out high-risk operations. In addition, the government of Luis Arce There are reports that troops from the Cotapachi barracks in the city of Cochabamba were preparing to reach La Paz. This information was also confirmed by the Deputy Minister of Internal Governance. Johnny Aguilerawho said that transfer orders were made By Zúñiga and his close associatesThe soldiers who have also been taken into custody.
On Wednesday, Zuniga led a military action, about which he said, demanded “change of government cabinet” and “restore” democracy in Bolivia. After arriving in a tank at the Presidential Palace, he was confronted by President Arce, who ordered him to retreat and withdraw the tanks and troops that had supported him in the military invasion. A few hours later he was captured at the Army General Staff. After being arrested, the general confessed to the police that the population of Viachá and the Navy units arrived late to occupy the Presidential Palace.
This Saturday, Zuniga and two other soldiers were transferred to the Chonchocoro maximum security prison, amid a strong police operation. Police carried out a strong police operation from this Saturday afternoon in the Special Force to Fight Crime (Falc) in the center of La Paz and 22 minutes later Zuniga, a former military man, was taken out of the cells accompanied by two guards. The court ruled on Friday send to preventive custody Three uniformed personnel for six months.
Bolivian lawyer, Cesar Sileson Friday said preventive detention was a “precedent” for advancing the investigation into the “coup attempt”. “The preventive detention that the judge is ordering will without a doubt set a precedent and send a good signal so that this investigation can move forward,” the lawyer told state television.
The Bolivian lawyer indicated that he was present at the precautionary hearing and that the prosecutor’s office proved before the judge the “possibility of authorship” of the crimes of terrorism and armed rebellion. In addition, the risk of escape and obstruction of the three former soldiers was established, facts that the Justice took into account to resolve preventive detention.