Coup Underway in Bolivia? Evo Morales Supporters Seize Military Units and Clash with Government

Supporters of controversial former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who is embroiled in a child sex abuse plot, seized three military units in the Tropic of Cochabamba, kidnapping officers and civilians who were on the scene.

The seizure of the units was in response to the operations ordered this Friday by President Luis Arce to try to unblock the routes closed for 19 days by Morales' own supporters. Bolivian authorities confirmed that the protesters have access to the regiment's weapons.

Local broadcaster Wara TV published a video in which thousands of Morales supporters are seen seizing the 'Cacique Juan Maraza' base with sticks and demanding that the unit's colonel lay down his arms and refusing to comply with the Executive's orders. The footage also shows Morales' supporters surrounding the unit's officers and the latter asking the Government not to continue with the unblocking operations, claiming that their lives are in danger.

"The regiment has been taken over (...) They have cut off our water, electricity and taken us hostage. The lives of my instructors and soldiers are in danger. Please, my general, I ask that you can consider...we are fathers, sons, brothers of entire families," said a military man under obvious pressure. "Our guarantees are cut off."

In the video, in which gunshots can be heard in the background, the "Evistas" are also heard calling for the resignation of President Arce. Before they took over the base in Cochabamba, another group of Morales supporters tried to take over another barracks, the Infantry Regiment RI-21 "Cnl. Epifanio Ríos," but there the military managed to respond to the threat and prevent the seizure of the unit.

"We are not going to use weapons at all. This action you are taking, brothers, is not correct. These are barracks facilities. It is a house and it has rules. The only thing I ask is that you do not do this action, let's keep vigil (...) We are here guarding the weapons so that they are not misused, if the weapons fall into dangerous hands it will be bad for the people," said the colonel in charge of the regiment in statements reported by Infobae.

For days, Bolivia has been living moments of tension due to road closures, which occurred just when Morales began to be involved in new accusations of alleged sexual abuse in his country and neighboring nations such as Argentina.

"The Apollo Foundation filed a criminal complaint in Argentina against the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, for allegedly committing crimes related to human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and abuse of minors during his asylum in the country during the last [leftist] government" allied with Morales, the Argentine newspaper El Clarín reported.

The complaint states that, between 2019 and 2020, Evo Morales cohabited "with minors who would have been transferred from Bolivia, in allegedly vulnerable conditions, to perform domestic and personal work in a context" of vulnerability.

Meanwhile, road closures in Bolivia have been particularly violent. In some areas, Morales' supporters have resisted with dynamite thrown from the hills, putting at risk the integrity of the military seeking to clear the roads while the Bolivian economy suffers the consequences of the blockades. Specifically, local media report uncontrolled inflation and shortages of basic goods.

Arce says Morales' followers are "betraying" the country

President Luis Arce, in a lengthy post on 'X', urged Morales' followers to surrender and not proceed with their actions, which amount to treason against the homeland.

"We denounce before the Bolivian people and the international community that armed groups related to Evo Morales have taken by assault three military units in the Tropic of Cochabamba, holding military personnel and their families hostage, and threatening their lives, being that they do not intervene in any operation, they are only guarding their units," said Arce. "They are of popular origin, and many also have native indigenous roots, like the policemen whom these irregular groups are shooting at with lethal weapons and throwing dynamites."

The president then confirmed that the protesters had accessed and taken over the place where the military weaponry were located, "which constitutes an absolutely condemnable criminal act that is far from any legitimate social claim of the native indigenous and peasant movement."

"The seizure of a military installation by irregular groups anywhere in the world is a crime of treason, an affront to the Political Constitution of the State, to the Armed Forces and to the Bolivian people itself, which strongly rejects the criminal blockades of Evo Morales, as well as these criminal actions," announced Arce, who assured that his Government will recover the control of the units and the closed routes.

Following Arce's announcement, former President Morales, who was once an ally of Arce himself, announced a hunger strike to pressure the government to invoke a dialogue.

"To prioritize dialogue I am going to start a hunger strike until the government installs (...) dialogue tables," Morales said in a statement to the press in the coca-growing region of Chapare, in the department of Cochabamba.

"And for the dialogue to be viable, responsible and have results, I ask for the participation of international organizations from friendly countries," added Morales, known for his close ties with authoritarian governments in the region such as Cuba and Venezuela.