General Juan José Zúñiga Macias, now officially former general commander of the Bolivian Army, was the main face of the military uprising that took place this Wednesday (26) in front of the Bolivian government headquarters, in the capital La Paz.
Zúñiga, who had held the role of general commander of the Army since 2022, was removed from his position on Tuesday (25), and officially replaced by General José Wilson Sánchez this Wednesday amid the riots in the capital.
The experienced general led a group of military personnel in an attempt to carry out a coup d’état against the government of President Luis Arce, accusing it of threatening national sovereignty and pursuing partisan interests to the detriment of the country’s natural resources.
Zúñiga is an opponent of Evo Morales, the former Bolivian president. The general, who during interviews had already expressed his strong opposition to the possibility of Morales returning to the presidency, stated that the country’s Armed Forces have the mission of ensuring respect for the Constitution. According to him, Morales is legally disqualified from running for president.
According to information from the Clarionthe confrontation between Zúñiga and Morales is not recent, and dates back to years of exchanges of accusations.
In an interview on Monday (24), Zúñiga emphasized that the Bolivian Armed Forces are an “armed arm of the people” and that they would use all “constitutional tools” to fulfill their role.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Zúñiga reiterated his position on Morales, stating that he cannot return to the post of president.
“Enough of impoverishing our homeland, enough of humiliating the military. We came to express our dissatisfaction,” he said.