The Bolivian general Juan Jose Zuniga and two other high-ranking soldiers, accused of directing the failed coup against the president Luis Arcewere held this Saturday in a maximum security prison by order of a judge who imposed six months of preventive detention.
Zúñiga, former army commander; Vice Admiral Juan Arnezformer head of the Navy (Marina); and Alejandro Iraholaformer head of the army’s mechanized brigade, entered the Chonchocoro prisonon the outskirts of El Alto, a municipality neighboring La Paz.
On Friday, the court ordered his confinement in that maximum security prison while investigations continue into the armed uprising last Wednesday, when troops with tanks besieged the government headquarters for several hours before withdrawing.
Police mounted an intense security presence for his transfer from a prison in La Paz.
Zúñiga and the other two officers face charges of terrorism and armed uprisingfor which they could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, according to the prosecution.
Along with them, 18 other active and retired military personnel and civilians have been arrested for the failed coup.
The government said it found evidence of a plan by the military to send special forces by plane from the department of Tarija to La Paz, with the intention of striking Arce.
“We have found a radiogram with which it had been instructed that the plane that is (…) in the Ministry of Government be transferred to the department of Tarija, to bring the satin groups,” the Minister of Government told the press. Eduardo Del Castillo.
General Zúñiga has been singled out from the start as the main person responsible for the conspiracy against Bolivia’s leftist president, who took office in 2020 for a five-year term.
The former army commander was arrested on Wednesday after troops and armoured vehicles stationed in front of the government headquarters withdrew, without clashes with forces loyal to the government.
During the military rebellion, 14 civilians were injured with pellets fired by soldiers when they entered the square where the presidential palace is located, in the center of La Paz, according to the government.
Source: Gestion
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