Now they have arrested the head of the air force, whom Luis Arce had praised for not joining the attempt

Marcelo Javier Zegarra,commander of the Bolivian Air Force during the Coup attempt In Bolivia he was arrested this Friday, hours after President Luis Arce himself thanked him for not having given in to the attempt, despite the fact that he entered Plaza Murillo, in front of the Palacio Quemado, with General Juan José Zúñiga. Thus, those detained for the attempted coup d’état now number 21.

On Thursday night, at a press conference, Luis Arce recounted the moment of tension with General Zúñiga face to face, where he rebuked Zegarra, whom he later thanked.

“I also confronted General Zegarra of the Air Force, and he hesitated. I insisted that he reflect on the consequences that this could have according to the regulations of the Armed Forces, and in this discussion, Zuñiga and Vice Admiral Arnez left the place,” said Arce.

At the end of the 50-minute press conference, Arce acknowledged Zegarra, now under arrest. “We see that the police did not join in, this is an important fact. We see the attitude of the commander of the Air Force, General Zegarra, who is reflecting. We have also applauded this attitude,” said the president. A day earlier, the Minister of Government had also praised Zegarra.

However, this Friday the same Government Minister, Eduardo del Castillo, confirmed the news: “Another of the most important people who has been apprehended (…) is General Zegarra, former commander of the Air Force.” But, unlike the rest of those arrested, he was not presented to the media and only his name was reported to the press.

Two days ago, Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo himself had involved Zegarra. “In addition, other senior military commanders were present. They participated in a series of meetings, not only military personnel but also civilian personnel,” the official highlighted.

Zegarra had submitted voluntarily and with two lawyers to give their statement. “The Public Ministry has found elements, indications, by which it has determined his arrest at the conclusion of his statement,” he said.

This completes the arrests of the hierarchies of the three Bolivian armed forces. The former heads of the Army and Navy are detained accused of “terrorism and armed uprising against the security and sovereignty of the State.”

The Government Minister reported that they arrested Miguel Ángel Burgos, the infantry captain who “commanded the entire operation” of the destruction of the Quemado Palace gate with a tank. Also to two other sergeants, Alan Condori, driver of the tank, and Demetrio Mamani.

“According to preliminary investigations, this entire criminal organization communicated through a cell phone application called FaceTime,” the minister stressed.

On Thursday the Government had reported that it had 17 detainees but that it was looking for at least three more.

On Thursday, two civilians were arrested, Aníbal Aguilar Gómez and Juan Mario Paulsen. The Minister of Government presented Aguilar Gómez as the “ideologist” of the failed coup.

He is a specialist in strategic planning and the brother of Evo Morales’ former Minister of Education, Roberto Aguilar Gómez. He is known for his activism on natural resources and his anti-Chilean discourse. In fact, he shouted that the government would hand over lithium to Chile and went on a hunger strike, while the minister ordered him to leave the room.

Seven other detainees are: Roman Caway, Julio Buitrago, Lionel Sanjinez, Miguel Iriarte, Luis Balanza, Waldir Mamani, and Marco Caviedes.

The Bolivian government said there were constant communications between the commander general of the Army’s mechanized brigade, Edison Irahola, and the infantry commander of Ayacucho, Juan Delgadillo. Both are also under arrest. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is also looking for three “retired soldiers.”