CNN
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A Bolivian general who tried to lay siege to the presidential palace on Wednesday was arrested and charged with plotting against the government.

Military units led by General Juan Jose Zuniga – who had been sacked as head of the Bolivian army a day earlier – occupied the main square of the capital La Paz, armored vehicles stormed the palace gates and soldiers tried to enter government offices.

Hours later, President Luis Arce – who had called on the public to “organize and mobilize” to defend democracy – could be seen confronting Zuniga in a crowded palace corridor, ordering the general to withdraw his soldiers and stand down.

After Zuniga was handcuffed and forced into a police car, a triumphant Arce raised his fist to the large crowd that had gathered at the presidential palace, signaling the failure of the coup attempt.

His defense minister, Edmundo Novillo, later told a news conference that the government had regained “total and absolute control” over its military. “We urge people that everything should return to normal,” he said.

Bolivia has a long history of political instability, including military coups, and the South American nation of 12 million has struggled as it grapples with a spiraling economic crisis that has fueled street protests in recent months.

The country is crippled by foreign exchange reserves, particularly the US dollar, and shortages of fuel and other basic necessities.

At the time of his arrest, Zuniga alleged — without providing evidence — that he was acting on Arce’s instructions.

“I met the president on Sunday and the president told me, ‘The situation is so f******, this week is going to be important. So, I need to prepare something to boost my popularity.’ So he told me, he asked me, ‘Should we take the shields (of the vehicles) out?'” Zuniga told reporters.

Justice Minister Ivan Lima denied Zuniga’s claims, saying he was “lying and trying to justify the decision he made, and he must answer to justice.”

The coup attempt was widely condemned by the Bolivian government and international leaders.

Bolivia’s attorney general’s office said it had opened a criminal investigation against Zunica and “all other participants” involved in the incident. It is unclear where Zunika is being held.

Earlier on Wednesday, footage from the scene showed armed soldiers occupying Murillo Plaza, the main square in La Paz that houses the national executive and legislative offices.

As former President Morales, a member of Arce’s Movement to Socialism (MAS) party, said in X, “A revolution is brewing,” armored vehicles were seen crashing through the gates of Bolivia’s government palace, Associated Press .”

The video also shows some civilians confronting soldiers in Murillo Plaza during the coup attempt.

Bolivia’s latest political conflict is fueled by leftist former president Evo Morales’ plans to run for re-election against one-time ally Arce in next year’s general election, with tensions rising.

“We want to restore democracy,” he told reporters in Zuniga Square, surrounded by soldiers, before being taken into custody. He was previously fired for threatening to block Morales’ bid for re-election.

“The people have no future, the army has the courage to look after the future of our children, the well-being and progress of our people,” he said.

He vowed to “free all political prisoners,” including former president Jeanine Anez, who is currently jailed for what courts say was her role in the deadly protests that erupted after she came to power in 2019.

Amidst the chaos, President Arce announced new military commanders, replacing Zúnica with Army Chief General José Sánchez.

The situation seemed to calm down when Sanchez ordered the soldiers in the square to return to their divisions.

According to footage from Bolivia TV, armed vehicles soon left Murillo Plaza. Ars also announced the new chiefs of the Navy and Air Force.

CNN is reaching out to the Bolivian government for comment.

Morales, who publicly split with his former ally Ars, resigned as president in 2019 following growing protests over allegations of electoral fraud; At the time, he said he was forced out in a coup.

Cornell University Professor of Government and Public Policy Gustavo A. Flores-Macias told CNN that the coup attempt reflects widespread discontent in the country.

“What’s happening in Bolivia is that broad sectors of society, across social strata, at all levels, are very unhappy with the way things are, especially on the economic front. And we have elections coming up in 2025,” he said.

In that election, Arce and Morales “seemed to have this conflict on the way. Both of them are aspiring to become the next president,” he added.

Freddy Mamani, Bolivia’s former deputy foreign minister and an ally of Morales and Arce, told CNN that despite the “anti-democratic” nature of “tanks, soldiers in uniform and taking the square”…it was important to highlight the solidarity of the Bolivian people. In the face of any coup.”

But echoing Zuniga’s comments, an opposition MP accused the government of staging a coup in an attempt to drum up support.

“What happened today in Bolivia is a very strange situation,” Andrea Barrientos, a senator from the opposition Civil Society Party, told the BBC. “We can confirm that this was a self-coup organized by the government of Louis Arce.”

News of the attempted coup was strongly condemned by international and regional leaders, including Paraguay’s President Santiago Pena, the President of Mexico and the European Union.

“We express our support for democracy in our brother country and our support for the legitimate government of Luis Arce,” Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said in X.

The US Embassy in La Place said it was “monitoring the situation closely”.

Luis Almagro, secretary-general of the Pan-American Organization of American States (OAS), condemned the mobilizations “in the strongest terms” in X, saying “the military must submit to legitimately elected civilian authority”.

This story has been updated with additional updates.

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Armored vehicles crashed through the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday as the president called, led by a top general who vowed to “restore democracy.” A conspiracy attemptThen quickly retreated — the latest crisis in the South American country Facing a political war and economic crisis.

Within hours, the nation of 12 million people witnessed a fast-moving scene in which troops appeared to seize control of President Luis Arce’s government. He promised to stand firm and appointed a new military commander who immediately ordered the troops to stand down.

The soldiers soon retreated, accompanied by a line of military vehicles, ending the rebellion after three hours. Hundreds of people Supporters of Ars He then rushed the square outside the palace, waving Bolivian flags and singing the national anthem.

The troop withdrawal followed the arrest of military chief General Juan José Zunica after the attorney general opened an investigation.

Aside from Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo, Zuniga, former Navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnes Salvador said he was arrested.

“What was the goal of this group? The goal was to overthrow democratically elected power,” del Castillo told reporters announcing the arrests.

Late Wednesday, Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said “everything is now under control.” Surrounded by new military leaders appointed by Arce, Novillo said Bolivia was living in a “failed conspiracy.”

The apparent coup attempt comes as the country faces months of tensions and political infighting between Arce and his one-time ally, former leftist President Evo Morales, who control the ruling party. That too came in the midst of a severe economic crisis.

Republican Rep. Lauren Bobert has won the primary in her new Colorado district.

The controversial congresswoman defeated five GOP challengers in a competitive primary in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District and will be favored to win the seat in the November general election.

Bobert won with over 43% of the vote. That means 91% votes were counted by 8.47 pm.

Bobert wore a Make America Great Again hat at his victory party in northern Colorado Donald Trump-branded sneakers And called for a unified GOP and building bridges with other Republicans.

“We need to get involved at the local level and start taking back our state,” he said. “And we need to be aware and never be lulled by the enemy. Don’t let anyone tell you that your voice doesn’t matter and that your vote doesn’t count. Because it absolutely does.”

Boebert currently represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, but decided to run in the more conservative District 4 after Rep. Ken Buck resigned earlier this year.

CD4 includes the eastern half of the state and includes Loveland and Windsor (both in northern Colorado) and Douglas County (south of the Denver metro area). Nearly half of the district’s voters are in Douglas County, where CBS News Colorado politics expert Shawn Boyd says Republicans are “less MAGA and more mainstream.”

Former President Donald Trump won Douglas County by just 7 points in 2020, even though Republicans outnumber Democrats in the county twice as much. Overall, Trump lost Colorado by 13 points in 2020.

Bobert gave up his seat after a near defeat in CD3 Democrat Adam Frisch In 2022. When he announced he was running for a different district in January, he said the move comes after “a very difficult year for me and my family.” That includes passing A major divorce.

During his campaign, Boebert touted his endorsement of Trump, which CBS Colorado Democratic political analyst Mike Dino says helped him greatly.

“President Trump’s endorsement can’t be understated. It was very helpful for her early on because it was a big risk for her to move away from the 3rd Congressional District. The Continental Divide,” Dino said.

Bobert also spoke extensively on immigration issues during the campaign. when CBS Colorado debate last monthHe called for mass deportations, saying undocumented immigrants are a major drain on institutions and services in this country.

“Build the wall, deport everyone,” he repeated in a line throughout his campaign.

CBS Colorado Republican Party political analyst Dick Wadhams said Bobert’s huge fundraising advantage over many of his opponents also gave him a big boost.

“Congresswoman Lauren Bobert had two distinct advantages in this campaign: her money in the bank and her name recognition as an incumbent congresswoman. None of her five opponents had anywhere near either of those,” Wadhams said. “So that big, wide field helped her a lot.”

Bobert reminded his supporters Tuesday night that “it’s not over” and that everyone should be involved in the presidential race.

“We need President Trump now more than ever in the race and the fight for the White House on Nov. 5,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, don’t slow down, don’t give up.”

During CBS Colorado’s debate, several of Boebert’s opponents talked about their farming and ranching backgrounds, and in doing so indirectly highlighted Boebert’s new status for the district. Conservative radio talk show host Deborah Flora was the only candidate to directly attack Bobert for his action, criticizing him for “abandoning his neighbor on CD3.”

Flora described the controversial congresswoman as more concerned with being in the national spotlight than representing Coloradans.

“We saw how Lauren Bobert would represent us,” Flora said. “Missing key votes while chasing cameras instead of giving people real solutions and DC being at the center of the drama.”

Flora finished third in the primary poll with approximately 13.8% of the vote, and Jerry Sonnenberg was second with approximately 14.3%. Mike Lynch and Richard Holdorf each got 11%.

“The bottom line is that (Bobert) didn’t get over 50%, and I think that’s significant to consider,” Dino said.

Republican Greg Lopez won Tuesday night Special Election on CD4 and will serve the remainder of the term of the p. The Democratic primary in CD4 was too close to call at 9 p.m., with Trisha Calvares holding a slight lead (45%) over Ike McCorkle (41%).

After Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on October 7, Israeli authorities declared a blockade of Gaza and severely restricted the entry of humanitarian aid, saying they did not want to help Hamas. Between October and early May, the number of daily aid trucks passing through two major crossings in southern Gaza dropped by about 75 percent, according to UN data, and reports of hunger and malnutrition are widespread.

Israeli officials have said for months that there is no limit to the amount of food and other aid that can enter Gaza. In recent weeks, Israel has opened aid crossings in northern Gaza and increased the number of commercial vehicles carrying food and other supplies across the border.

The report said Gaza’s population of nearly 2.2 million faced severe food insecurity, and placed Gaza at phase 4 of “emergency” on its five-level classification scale. But it also said 495,000 people faced “catastrophic levels of severe food insecurity”, a level 5 on the scale.

“At this stage, families experience food insecurity, hunger and exhaustion of coping skills,” the report said.

In March, the IPC predicted famine in northern Gaza by the end of May. But on Tuesday, it said the amount of food and other nutrients served there increased in March and April.

Those increases “appear to have temporarily mitigated conditions” in the north, the report added, adding that “in this context, available evidence does not indicate a current famine.”

In early May, Israel’s military sent ground troops into the southern Gazan city of Rafah, and more than a million people, many of whom had previously been displaced from their homes, fled to the coastal area, which lacks basic infrastructure, leaving them extremely vulnerable.

The military operation closed the Rafah border crossing from Egypt and disrupted aid deliveries at the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. Since then, the situation in the south has worsened, the report said.

In order to buy food, more than half of households in Gaza “had to barter their clothes for money, and a third resorted to selling rubbish,” the IPC said. It said more than half of households often had no food to eat, and more than 20 percent went days or nights without food.

The IPC identifies famine when at least 20 percent of households in an area face food shortages, at least 30 percent of children suffer from severe malnutrition, and at least two adults or four children per 10,000 people die of hunger or starvation every day. Malnutrition related disease.

Since the IPC was established in 2004, its approach has been used to identify only two famines: in Somalia in 2011, and in South Sudan in 2017. In Somalia, more than 100,000 people died before the famine was officially declared.

Israeli officials acknowledge hunger in Gaza, but accuse Hamas of stealing or diverting aid. But Ismail Tawabte, deputy head of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, said last month that the allegations were “totally false and false.” He added that while some of the relief goods were looted, it was done by a small number of people driven to desperation by Israel.

Some Gazans have also accused Hamas of benefiting from looted aid.