2024 Bolivian coup attempt

2024 Bolivian coup attempt
Protesters confront soldiers outside the Plaza Murillo
Date 26 June 2024; 8 days ago (2024-06-26) Location Plaza Murillo, La Paz, Bolivia Result Coup failed New military command appointed Soldiers withdraw to barracks Perpetrators apprehended
Belligerents
Government of Bolivia Movement for Socialism Bolivian National Police Bolivian Workers' Center Anti-coup protesters	Armed Forces of Bolivia Bolivian Army  Bolivian Naval Force Bolivian Air Force
Commanders and leaders
Luis Arce David Choquehuanca Edmundo Novillo Evo Morales	Juan José Zúñiga Juan Arnez Marcelo Zegarra
Casualties and losses
None	21 officers detained
12 civilians injured

On 26 June 2024, an attempted military coup occurred in Bolivia, orchestrated by dissident officers of the Armed Forces led by General Juan José Zúñiga. Armed troops occupied the Plaza Murillo in La Paz, the political heart of the country, but withdrew amid domestic and international pressure and after the appointment of a new military high command.

The coup followed weeks of political and economic unease, as a split in the ruling party between former president Evo Morales and incumbent Luis Arce hampered the government's ability to address a looming financial crisis. Days before the coup, General Juan José Zúñiga declared that the military would arrest Morales if he ran in the 2025 presidential election. The resulting scandal ended in Zúñiga's dismissal.

Early on 26 June, Bolivian Army units began irregular mobilizations, culminating in the complete occupation of Plaza Murillo by mid-afternoon. A tense standoff between soldiers and police joined by protesters lasted for three hours. The day's events included an assault on the historical Palacio Quemado and a face-to-face altercation between Arce and Zúñiga. The coup plotters lacked meaningful military or political support and were met with bipartisan domestic and international condemnation. Police forces opposed the putsch, and the commander of the Air Force backed out before a new Army commander appointed by Arce ordered all soldiers to return to their regular posts.

Following his arrest, Zúñiga asserted that the coup attempt had been a ruse masterminded by Arce to drum up popular support. Opponents of the government seized on the accusation, with supporters of Morales and the traditional opposition questioning the administration's role in the military uprising – an alleged self-coup Arce categorically denied.^[1]