Coup in Bolivia - Happening Now

Looks like a military coup is unfolding in Bolivia , gunshots have been heard and an armoured vehicle has rammed through the entrance of the presidential palace.

Video on Bolivian TV showed President Luis Arce confronting the general commander of the army in the palace hallway and telling him: "I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination."

Mr Zuniga earlier confirmed the movement of uniformed officers and said: "We are upset by the affront, enough is enough."

He spoke on TV of "attacks on democracy" without elaborating.

Maria Nela Prada, minister of the presidency and a top Bolivian official, said military and tanks were taking over the plaza, calling it an "attempted coup d'etat".

"The people are on alert to defend democracy," she told local television station Red Uno.
news.sky.com...

Complete change of government happens in Bolivia every few years.

Not just a complete change of people ... but a complete change of government.

Our daughter is from Bolivia. We had to go there to adopt her. It was a challenge to get in and out during an intermittent stable government.

a reply to: gortex

Do we know the reason for the coup? Is President Luis Arce a despot dictator or something or other?

ABC News says General leading the coup wants to restore democracy and free political prisoners.

CNN says Bolivian President complains of 'irregular mobilization' of military.

apnews.com...

The leadership of Bolivia’s largest labor union condemned what it called an attempted coup and declared an indefinite strike of social and labor organizations in La Paz in defense of the government.

sounds like Big Labor is against this coup

thanks Gortex for bringing this to our attention.

(didn't the USA just defeat their soccer team this weekend? coincidence I'm sure...)

originally posted by: charlest2
a reply to: gortex

Do we know the reason for the coup? Is President Luis Arce a despot dictator or something or other?

He is a Member of The Movimiento al Socialismo (Bolivia) Party

a reply to: gortex

I looked up his bio to see what party the President belongs to-turns out hes one of the countries richest bankers and a socialist..That seems fine so far!

But the best bit of info I found was how his name is pronounced-

Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Spanish: [ˈlwis alˈβeɾto ˈaɾse kataˈkoɾa]

en.wikipedia.org...

President Arse!

a reply to: gortex

One more question that probably can't be answered. Was the CIA , Victoria Nuland or our State Department involved?

Inside reports say the Coup has failed!!!!!

Could have been a planned failure to cast better light on The U.S. President (think deep) 😀

a reply to: xuenchen

Attempted Coups in Bolivia are like riots in Paris, France... they happen very often.

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: xuenchen

Attempted Coups in Bolivia are like riots in Paris, France... they happen very often.

What false equivalency are you making? 😃

I can think of 3

a reply to: xuenchen

There's been like 200 coups in Bolivias history...

Saw this morning that it was over, and the General attempting the overthrow was in custody.