LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian President Luis Arce said Friday that a former general plans to “take over” the government and become president. In a failed coupHe also rejected suggestions that the Andean country was in economic crisis.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the embattled leader again denied that Wednesday’s attack on the government palace was a “suicide attack” planned to score political points.
“I didn’t run, I stayed to defend democracy,” Arce said.
Arce withdrew his hand. Claims from relatives of 21 people detained by government They weren’t plotting a coup. Former General Juan Jose Zuniga.
“This is about the people involved, not the government,” Arce told The Associated Press.
Arce also said he was “under political attack” from his former ally and rival, former President Evo Morales. Internal strife has disrupted legislative activity and hampered the administration. Facing economic problems.
Nevertheless, he said, Bolivia’s economy is growing and the government is working to “diversify” production, invest in things like lithium, and industrialize. Bolivia has the world’s largest reserves of lithium, a metal known as “white gold” that is crucial to a green transition, but remains largely untapped, in part because of government policies.
Arce The minister said the government had “taken action” to address intermittent gasoline and dollar shortages and other bottlenecks plaguing the South American economy.
“Bolivia’s economy is growing. An economy in crisis cannot grow,” he said.
He said it was “totally normal” for Bolivians to not heed his calls to take to the streets in support of the government, but to stock up on food in supermarkets and rush to ATMs as they saw a coup coming in the capital.
He said Bolivia was traumatized by political unrest in 2019 that led to Morales resigning as president and fleeing, leaving 37 people dead.
“With the political situation, with this kind of division, with the coup, naturally people will be afraid that they won’t have food… so they will go and earn money to stock up on food,” Arce said.
He added that the government was investigating whether the attack had been planned by the country’s opposition.The same day, Eduardo del Castillo, a minister in Arce’s administration, said the government was claiming that “there were snipers who missed the mark in Plaza Murillo” where the coup took place.
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Associated Press writer Paola Flores in La Paz contributed to this report.
