Attempted coup d'etat in Bolivia was neutralized and democracy triumphed
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Published at: 26/06/2024 05:20 PM
This Wednesday, June 26, the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, managed to neutralize the coup attempt, by a group of disloyal soldiers, together with the mobilization of the population in defense of the country's democracy.
In this scenario, at an event broadcast by Telesur, President Arc swore in the new commanders of the Military High Command of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, including the new General Commander of the Bolivian Army, Jose Wilson Sánchez Velásquez.
The Bolivian head of state also appointed General of the Aeronautical Division, Gerardo Zabala Álvarez, as General Commander of the Bolivian Air Force, and Vice Admiral Renán Wilson Guardia Ramírez, as commander of the Bolivian Navy.
Once sworn in, the new commander General of the Bolivian Army, Jose Wilson Sánchez Velásquez, addressed the Bolivian people, to whom he offered a message that the irregular situation was under control and the constitutional thread continued to prevail.
In his speech, Sánchez Velásquez ordered the military units that occupied the area surrounding Plaza Murillo, in the capital of Bolivia, in La Paz, to withdraw from the place, after having taken the Presidential Palace under the orders of the dismissed commander Juan José Zúñiga.
President Arce then stated that “we deplore attitudes of bad soldiers who unfortunately repeat the country's recent history, trying to carry out a coup d'etat when the Bolivian people have always been a democratic people.”
“We will respect the democracy won by voting at the polls of the Bolivian people,” he emphasized.
The President lamented that the coup attempt “all it does is damage the image of democracy at the international level and generate unnecessary uncertainty in the country.”
He thanked the Bolivian people who, in the face of the events, mobilized to surround Plaza Murillo, which had been taken over by the military, and to express their support for the President.
During his speech, the audience could be heard to express support slogans: “I fight, my friend, the people are with you”, “the united people will never be defeated” and “democracy yes, no dictatorship”.
Arce also expressed his gratitude to the countries of the region and international organizations, for their expressions of support for this attempt to break the democratic order in Bolivia.
“We salute the international organizations that have reproached this act, the friendly countries that have spoken out in favor of Bolivian democracy,” he emphasized.