A coup attempt by the recently fired commander of Bolivia’s armed forces fizzled out in about three hours in the face of an unyielding president and unaccepting population. General Juan José Zúñiga, who was fired as the armed forces commander on Tuesday, led the coup attempt for reasons that aren’t immediately clear.
BACKGROUND: BREAKING: Coup Attempt Underway in Bolivia – RedState
Soldiers bashed in the gates to the presidential palace, and General Zúñiga declared the formation of a new government.
Bolivian President Luis Arce refused to throw in the towel, called on the people to resist, and named a new armed forces commander. The result showed just how shallow support was for Zúñiga’s coup.
In the face of overwhelming popular support for Arce, the military abruptly flipped and arrested the coup leaders. Zúñiga was arrested while making an announcement on live television.
Naturally, the CIA was behind it because, of course, they were. I’ll be the first to admit the half-assed, incompetent way the coup was carried out does lead one to immediately point the finger of blame at our Intelligence Community (to me, this is the conclusive proof that Urkaine’s 2014 Maidan Revolution did not involve the CIA, because it worked). The reason the CIA allegedly did this was rooted in this Congressional testimony by USSOUTHCOM commander General Laura Richardson highlighting the importance of Bolivia as a lithium producer and the efforts by China to lock in control of South America’s lithium supply.
The real answer will probably be more prosaic and banal. Arce’s election was opposed by everyone but the lower classes. Zúñiga was involved in an ugly public feud with former president Evo Morales and was fired. I don’t even pretend to be vaguely conversant about Bolivian politics, but there seems to be enough ego and political instability in that country to account for the coup. That said, one can never rule out the CIA’s penchant for getting involved in stupid and counterproductive activities while imagining that it is being clever.
