By Brendan O’Boyle and Daniel Ramos
LA PAZ (Reuters) – An attempted coup in Bolivia that saw soldiers take over La Paz’s central square and storm the presidential palace with armored trucks was quashed as abruptly as it began, but has fueled the country’s economic and political crisis. a divided nation.
On Wednesday, the military unit led by General Juan Jose Zuniga launched an attack on the government, but withdrew as it became clear that they had no support. The former commander of the armed forces was arrested on live TV.
But as the government of leftist President Luis Arce announced success in the coup attempt, he has found political fault lines strained in the South American country and angered by a booming economy.
“We have a president with little popularity, without legislative control, with economic problems,” said Raul Penaranda, a Bolivian political analyst and journalist. “All of this creates a very difficult and complicated scenario.”
The country of around 12 million people will go head-to-head in next year’s presidential election. Arce’s socialist MAS party is divided between supporting him and party grandee and icon Evo Morales, a former ally of Arce who is now trying to undermine him.
Meanwhile, the economy is floundering.
Gas exports that helped fuel the country’s “economic miracle” in the 2000s have dried up, leading to a dangerous depletion of foreign reserves close to zero. Protests have been building, with many people unable to get dollars, and pressure on the long-standing currency is mounting.
In the heat of the failed coup, flanked by soldiers, Zuniga cited many frustrations, demanding the government “stop destroying, stop the poverty of our country.”
Across the aisle, Bolivians rejected the coup attempt, which many saw with dark humor as a joke. Zuniga himself, without providing evidence, said Arce asked him to help boost his low approval ratings.
“My beloved Bolivia is in an economic crisis, it is in a political crisis, in a social crisis,” La Paz resident Juan Carlos Llanque told Reuters outside the presidential palace in La Paz after the coup attempt. He still supports Arce.
“It’s all political comedy.”
instability is here to stay
Some analysts say Arce’s image of facing a coup attempt could even benefit him ahead of the 2025 election, adding some more difficulty to the bespectacled and generally low-key former economy minister.
Yola Mamani from near El Alto, came to support Arce in the central square, and said that he should be allowed to rule and be given space despite Morales.
“We see that you support humble people, vulnerable people who are going through difficult times, so you can count on their support,” she told Reuters, referring to Arce. “We’ll give our lives for you if we have to.”
Arce was elected in 2020 in a disputed re-election the year before that ended with Morales fleeing the country amid violent protests. The leftist leader who became the country’s first president from a majority indigenous community, returned from exile a year later after Arce’s election.
The two leaders, who oversaw a period of commodity-fueled prosperity for more than a decade, have been political rivals, each commanding factions of support within the dominant but splintered Movement for Socialism party.
Morales’ controversial bid for an unprecedented fourth term in 2019 defied constitutional limits and ended in invalid elections and months of crisis.
Zuniga, the general, had entered the political drama earlier this week, saying in an interview that Morales could not return to the presidency and threatening to block him if he tried, prompting Arce to withdraw his orders.
Emerging markets investment firm Tellimer said in a report that the coup attempt – which it called a “moist squib” – had highlighted the fragile state of the country, with social tensions running high, ahead of next year’s elections.
Political tensions and pressure on foreign reserves have hit risk indices and sovereign bonds, causing the biggest spread in years. Credit rating agencies have downgraded Bolivia’s debt to “junk” status.
“While the coup attempt has been delayed, this is another negative event that shows weak institutions and political polarization,” Tellimer wrote. “The saga suggests the country’s political instability is not likely to improve any time soon.”
