There was global outrage tonight as a dramatic coup attempt was underway in Bolivia with the country's military smashing armoured vehicles into the government palace - but the President remained defiant and urges people to mobilise to fight back.
President Luis Arce has said the South American country faced an attempted coup and urged people to mobilise in a video taken as he was surrounded by ministers in the palace. He said: "The country is facing an attempted coup d'etat. Here we are, firm in Casa Grande, to confront any coup attempt. We need the Bolivian people to organise."
Mr Arce confronted the general commander of the Army - Juan Jose Zuniga, who appeared to be leading the rebellion - in the palace hallway, as shown on video on Bolivian television. "I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination," Mr Arce said.
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Before entering the government building, Mr Zuniga told journalists in the plaza: "Surely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this." Mr Zuniga said that "for now" he recognises Mr Arce as commander in chief.
Mr Zuniga did not explicitly say he is leading a coup, but in the palace, with bangs echoing behind him, he said the army was trying to "restore democracy and free our political prisoners".
In a message on his Twitter account, Mr Arce called for "democracy to be respected". It came as Bolivian television showed two tanks and a number of men in military uniform in front of the government palace in La Paz. "We cannot allow, once again, coup attempts to take the lives of Bolivians," he said from inside the palace, surrounded by government officials, in a video message sent to news outlets.
An hour later, Mr Arce announced new heads of the army, navy and air force amid the roar of supporters. Video showed troops setting up blockades outside the government palace. He said the troops who rose against him were "staining the uniform" of the military and vowed that democracy would be respected.
"I order all that are mobilised to return to their units," said the newly named army chief Jose Wilson Sanchez. "No-one wants the images we're seeing in the streets." Soon after troops and armoured vehicles start pulling back from Bolivia's presidential palace. Supporters of Arce flooded into the plaza outside soon afterward, waving Bolivian flags.
Arce said the day has been "atypical in the life of country that wants democracy." He decried what he called "an attempted coup by troops who are staining the uniform, who are attacking our constitution."
In the latest update, Arce has addressed supporters who gathered in Plaza Murillo. "Many thanks to the Bolivian people...Long live democracy," Arce said. People then began singing the South American country's national anthem. Vice President David Choquehuanca told the crowd: "Never again will the Bolivian people allow coups d'etat."
The leadership of Bolivia's largest labour union condemned the action and declared an indefinite strike of social and labour organisations in La Paz in defence of the government. Former president Evo Morales, also in a message on Twitter, denounced the movement of the military in the Murillo square outside the palace, calling it a coup "in the making".
Maria Nela Prada, minister of the presidency and a top Bolivian official, called it an "attempted coup d'etat". "The people are on alert to defend democracy," she said to local television station Red Uno.
The incident was met with a wave of outrage by other regional leaders, including the Organisation of American States; Gabriel Boric, the president of neighbouring Chile; the leader of Honduras, and former Bolivian leaders.
Chile is among the foreign governments that are condemning what appeared to be a failed coup attempt in neighboring Bolivia. President Gabriel Boric told reporters that he "immediately" contacted his Bolivian counterpart to offer his "solidarity."
"We condemn this coup attempt. We call for institutions to function, for the constitution and the laws to be respected," he added. "We hope that no one is injured and that the legitimate government of President Luis Arce remains in place and can continue with the mandate that the Bolivian people have voted for." Boric said the matter would be raised Thursday before the Organization of American States.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed the European bloc's strong support for constitutional order and the rule of law in Bolivia.
Mr Arce praised those troops who obey the constitution and "wear their uniform with pride."
"We deplore the attitudes of bad troops who regrettably repeat history by trying to carry out a coup when the Bolivian people have always been a democratic people," he added.
Bolivian President Luis Arce has announced new heads of the army, navy and air force. That includes the position of the army general commander, Juan Jose Zuniga, who appears to be leading the rebellion.
New army chief Jose Wilson Sanchez is ordering all mobilized troops to return to their barracks.
Arce vowed that democracy would be respected. Police with riot gear have put up fences around the government palace and the plaza outside. Video from the streets showed armored vehicles driving away from the palace, followed by troops and journalists.
Before entering the government palace, Juan Jose Zuniga told journalists in the plaza outside that "Surely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this." Zuniga said that "for now" he recognizes Arce as commander in chief.
Zuniga did not explicitly say whether he is leading a coup, but in the palace, with bangs echoing behind him, he said the army was trying to "restore democracy and free our political prisoners."
Bolivia, a country of 12 million people, has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy's precipitous decline from one of the continent's fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.
The country also has seen a high-profile rift at the highest levels of the governing party. Mr Arce and his one-time ally, leftist icon and former President Morales, have been battling for the future of Bolivia's splintering Movement for Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS, ahead of elections in 2025.