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Bolivia thwarts coup attempt as country grapples with popular discontent

Updated Jun 27, 2024, 3:09pm EDT
Bolivian General Juan José Zuñiga. Claudia Morales/Reuters
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Bolivian police arrested the leader of an apparent attempted coup shortly after soldiers stormed the government palace.

General Juan José Zuñiga — who was sacked as army chief earlier this week after making disparaging comments about former President Evo Morales — gathered hundreds of troops in La Paz’s main square in a bid to “restructure democracy” in the country.

Morales was forced out of office in 2019 by military leaders after trying to manipulate the results of an election.

The coup attempt highlights a growing rift between Bolivia’s rural mountainous regions, which support left-wing governments including the current one, and the more urbanized lowlands, which have backed rightist and military leaders.

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