IN the wake of political battle and economic crisis, Bolivia was hit by another catastrophe – an attempt to overthrow the current administration through a military coup.
General Juan José Zúñiga, who was fired earlier this week as commander of the Bolivian army, led the uprising together with a group of breakaway military chiefs.
In the Bolivian administrative capital of La Paz, hundreds of soldiers raided the presidential palace on Wednesday and made a forceful entry using armored vehicles to break the doors.
Amid the chaos, pro-democracy protesters joined forces with the government to prevent the uprising wherein some of them were driven away by the intruding soldiers using tear gas.
In the end, the soldiers retreated and the voice of democracy won.
The government arrested the three military leaders who initiated the uprising, including former Army Chief Zúñiga, and announced three new heads who replaced them.
Meanwhile, the CIA is being accused as the mastermind behind the military coup.
Bolivia, a pro-BRICS country that showed interest in joining the bloc, owns one of the largest reserves of Lithium in the world. Bolivia prefers to partner with China and Russia in developing its Lithium reserves, a move that poses a huge threat to the united states’ dominance in the global market.
The incident happened a few weeks after Bolivian President Luis Arce met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg where both leaders pledged to continue their partnership in energy development such as nuclear technology.
The Russian foreign ministry condemned the failed military coup and warned against destructive foreign interference in Bolivia and other nations.
