From the El Abra prison in Cochabamba, retired General Juan José Zúñiga broke his silence. The former Army commander stated that there was no attempted coup d'état on June 26, 2024, but rather a planned operation directed by the Government. According to his version, both he and the other prosecuted military personnel simply followed direct orders from the president to mobilize troops amid a social tension scenario that threatened to overflow.
Zúñiga recounted that on Sunday, June 23, while participating in a sports activity at a school in La Paz, Arce gave him specific instructions. The president, concerned about roadblocks and an imminent paralysis in the highlands, ordered him to mobilize armored vehicles. According to him, the order was: "Bring the tanks, bring the armored vehicles, they must arrive before the blockades start at midnight".
He claims he didn't have time to change clothes and immediately summoned the Army General Staff to execute the order. The operation was set in motion swiftly. Zúñiga called the heads of Intelligence, Logistics, Operations, and Communication, conveying the presidential instruction to them.
Did they act on Luis Arce's orders?
He claims that no military personnel objected to the order, and everyone understood that it was a preventive action for a week that Arce himself described as "critical" for his administration. The general detailed that the military equipment was mobilized separately to avoid causing alarm, and the president was the only one authorized to order those movements.
In the days leading up to the mobilization, the general claims there were multiple meetings with high-level authorities from the presidential circle. One was held on the 22nd floor of the Casa Grande del Pueblo where Zúñiga met with María Nela Prada, Edmundo Novillo, and Hugo Moldiz. In that meeting, the replacement of the Military High Command and the need for Armed Forces support in the face of upcoming conflicts were discussed.
Zúñiga insists that there was never any intention to seize power. He ironically stated that if he had wanted to execute a real coup, he would have done it at dawn with military strategy, not with just fifteen visible tanks in broad daylight. He questioned the official narrative, maintaining that it was all a carefully directed setup to elevate Arce's image and suppress opposing voices under the pretext of a failed coup attempt.
Is the documentary just a setup?
In the same vein, the general's defense referred to the documentary "What happened on 26J?", presented by Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo. In this audiovisual material, the Executive accuses Zúñiga of having formed a supposed alternate civil cabinet with known public figures. The military man denied knowing most of the people mentioned, describing the documentary's content as a "cinematic setup" with no basis in real events.
