President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party) spoke out about the attempted coup in Bolivia on Wednesday (25). "As I am a lover of democracy, I want democracy to prevail in Latin America. Coups have never worked," said the Brazilian president.
Lula asked Itamaraty, as the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is popularly known, for information to assess Brazil's next steps. "I want information. I've asked Foreign Minister Mauro [Vieira] to call Bolivia, to call the [Bolivian] president, to call the Brazilian ambassador, so we can be sure and take a stance."
According to the Brazilian news website G1, Lula has summoned Minister Mauro Vieira and his special advisor, Celso Amorim, to a meeting. Lula intends to assess the situation in Bolivia and, if possible, the country's president, Luís Arce.
At around 3 pm (local time), the Bolivian army, headed by General Juan José Zuñiga, deployed its troops in front of the federal government headquarters in La Paz, the country's capital. Then, Arce went to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and announced that the maneuver was irregular.
Then, also on X, former president Evo Morales was more incisive and denounced the coup. "We are calling for a national mobilization to defend democracy in the face of the coup d'état being planned and led by the army commander, General Juan José Zuñiga."
In an interview with local media, Zuñiga said "The three heads of the Armed Forces have come to express our disagreement. There will be a new cabinet of ministers. Things will certainly change, but our country cannot continue like this."
General Zúñiga, the lead plotter
Former Bolivian Army commander Juan José Zúñiga is seen as the main leader of the coup attempt against Bolivian President Luis Arce.
On Tuesday (25), after threatening Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales, Zúñiga was removed from the post he had held since 2022. The high-ranking military officer is opposed to Morales' candidacy for next year's presidential elections.
In recent statements, Zúñiga even said that Morales "can no longer be president of this country" and declared he would be willing to offer his life "for the defense and unity of the homeland."
On Wednesday (26), Zúñiga led a coup attempt in Plaza Murillo, La Paz, accompanied by his followers. The group stormed the presidential palace, popularly known as Palacio Quemado.
In 2013, he was accused of embezzling and stealing more than 2.7 million Bolivian pesos. The money was supposed to be used to pay for social programs. He was sentenced to seven days in prison for embezzlement and forgery of documents.
