When heavily armed troops, spearheaded by a tank, broke through the gates of Bolivia’s presidential palace in La Paz on June 26, it appeared that the country’s military was mounting an armed coup with the aim of replacing the left-wing government of Luis Arce.
The leader of the uprising, Juan José Zúñiga, who was a military commander until his sacking on June 25, the day before the coup attempt, pronounced boldly that “there will be a new cabinet of ministers”. But even as the coup seemed to be taking shape, order was quickly restored.
Arce was filmed confronting Zúñiga as he entered the palace hallway, instructing him to stand his troops down. And within just three hours the troops had retreated, Zúñiga had been detained and Arce had named a new military high command.
