Bolivian president Arce warns Morales of imminent coup d'état

La Paz, Jun 27 (EFE).- Bolivian President Luis Arce announced Thursday that he called "comrade Evo Morales" to warn him of an attempted coup led by ousted military chief Juan José Zúñiga. Despite their differences, Arce stressed that they remain "comrades"

Arce highlighted the problems of the Bolivian army's intelligence unit, which failed to report irregular activities to the defence ministry and the president.

This cover-up has led to the arrest of more than 17 people. Arce's brief communication with Morales was intended to ensure that he took precautions, as the coup attempt posed a threat to both leaders. (Camera: GABRIEL ROMANO).

SHOT LIST: BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT LUIS ARCE SPEAKS DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE IN LA PAZ, BOLIVIA.

SOUND BITES: LUIS ARCE, PRESIDENT OF THE PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA (IN SPANISH).

TRANSLATION:

-One of the main issues in the Bolivian army is the area of military intelligence. In this military intelligence unit, which could report any irregular movements not in line with military regulations, there was simply someone highly trusted within the military intelligence unit. So, in reality, military intelligence functioned for the army commander and never passed information to the Ministry of Defense, let alone to the President of the State. Therefore, one of the main reasons why this gets covered up and doesn’t come to light day after day is precisely because the significant intelligence that should be reporting and informing does not take any action. Moreover, that’s why we have over 17 detainees on this issue, because many people in the Army were involved in hiding information and not reporting the correct information. Even this last one, which I mentioned while the Minister of Defense is distressed, is that the movement of vehicles and troops from Chapada is communicated to another person responsible for ratification, who needs to know what is happening, and says there is no consensus. When it was happening, the Ministers of Defense suspected this movement was occurring. So, the information was hidden, it wasn’t reported, and it didn’t reach a promise. (0.28-1.51).

-If we talk with Evo Morales in the last few hours, we might have differences. The main difference we have is that we believe the political instrument belongs to social organizations and not to any particular person. This is a significant difference we have with comrade Evo. This does not mean that at this moment, when we saw that a coup d'état was already underway, I instructed that they communicate with comrade Evo and warned him that a coup d'état was happening so that he could take precautions. It was clear they were coming for me, but it was also clear to me that they would go for Evo Morales next. Therefore, as a comrade—because that is what we are—I called him to warn him and for him to take precautions. It was a very short, quick communication because at that moment, all the phones were ringing, all the messages were coming to the different cell phones, and we had to organize ourselves to face the revolutionary zone. So, it was a conversation of just seconds, where I passed on that information for him to take precautions. (1. 53-3.13).