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Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia\u2019s government palace<\/a><\/span> on Wednesday as President Luis Arce said his country faced an apparent attempted coup.<\/p>\n In a sense, the uprising was the culmination of tensions that have been brewing in Bolivia for months<\/a><\/span>, with protesters streaming into the nation\u2019s capital amid a severe economic crisis and as two political titans battle for control of the ruling party.<\/p>\n At the same time, the attempt to take over the palace appeared to have lacked any meaningful support, and even Arce\u2019s rivals quickly closed ranks to defend democracy and repudiate the uprising.<\/p>\n What appears to have triggered this?<\/strong><\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s uprising appeared to be led by general commander of the army Juan Jos\u00e9 Z\u00fa\u00f1iga, who told journalists gathered at the plaza outside the palace that \u201cSurely soon there will be a new Cabinet of ministers; our country, our state cannot go on like this.\u201d But he added that he recognizes Arce as commander in chief \u201cfor now.\u201d<\/p>\n Arce ordered him to withdraw his soldiers, saying he would not allow the insubordination. Later, he officially removed Z\u00fa\u00f1iga from his post.<\/p>\n What is behind the recent tensions?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bolivians have increasingly been suffering the pains of slow growth, surging inflation and scarcity of dollars<\/a><\/span> \u2014 a stark change from the prior decade that some called an \u201ceconomic miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n The country\u2019s economy grew by over 4% nearly every year in the 2010s<\/a><\/span> until pitching into the abyss with the coronavirus pandemic. But trouble began earlier, in 2014, when commodity prices plunged and the government dipped into its currency reserves to sustain spending. Then it drew on its gold reserves and even sold dollar bonds locally.<\/p>\n Arce had been finance minister during nearly the entire decade of strong growth, under leftist icon President Evo Morales. Upon assuming the presidency himself in 2020, he encountered a bleak economic reckoning from the pandemic<\/a><\/span>. Diminished gas production sealed the end of Bolivia\u2019s budget-busting economic model.<\/p>\n Today, it\u2019s tapped out. Struggling to import fuel, lines of cars snake away from fuel-strapped gas stations. This year the International Monetary Fund forecasts growth of just 1.6%. Aside from the pandemic plunge in 2020, that would be Bolivia\u2019s slowest growth in 25 years.<\/p>\n With this economic despair as a backdrop, president Arce and former leader Morales have clashed in a political fight that has paralyzed the government\u2019s efforts to deal with it. For example, Morales\u2019 allies in Congress have consistently thwarted Arce\u2019s attempts to take on debt to relieve some of the pressure.<\/p>\n How exceptional is the uprising?<\/strong><\/p>\n By one count, Bolivia has had more than 190 coup attempts<\/a><\/span> and revolutions since its 1825 independence in a repetitive cycle of conflict between political elites in urban areas and disenfranchised by mobilized rural sectors.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t even the first alleged coup attempt in recent years. In 2019<\/a><\/span>, Morales, then Bolivia\u2019s first Indigenous president, ran for an unconstitutional third term<\/a><\/span>. He won a contested vote plagued by allegations of fraud, setting off mass protests<\/a><\/span> that caused 36 deaths and prompted Morales to resign and flee the country.<\/p>\n An interim government from the right-wing opposition<\/a><\/span> took control, led by Jeanine \u00c1\u00f1ez and Morales\u2019 Movement for Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS, called it a coup.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Arce, Morales\u2019s chosen successor, won the election<\/a><\/span> pledging to restore prosperity to Bolivia, once Latin America\u2019s mainstay source of natural gas.<\/p>\n How much political power does Arce have?<\/strong><\/p>\n Morales, who still draws considerable support from coca farmers and union workers, was apparently not content to let Arce run for reelection unchallenged. After returning from exile<\/a><\/span>, the charismatic populist last year announced plans to run in the 2025 presidential race, setting off a pitched battle for control of a splintering MAS.<\/p>\nZ\u00fa\u00f1iga did not explicitly say whether he was the uprising\u2019s leader, but in the palace, with bangs echoing behind him, he said the army was trying to \u201crestore democracy and free our political prisoners.\u201d<\/div>\n\n