27, June 2024
Bolivian general arrested after failed coup 0
Bolivian police have arrested a former general who staged a failed coup, with President Luis Arce asserting his authority over the country’s military and thanking the public for keeping up their support for the government.
The troops of Juan Jose Zuniga, who was fired earlier this week as commander of the Bolivian Army, raided the presidential palace in the capital La Paz on Wednesday afternoon and took up positions in the square outside, where key government buildings are located. Media reports said a tank slammed the palace doors.
However, Zuniga urged the soldiers within hours to withdraw, after leaders from around the world blasted the army’s actions as illegal.
The soldiers’ retreat was followed by the apprehension of Zuniga after the attorney general opened an investigation.
Bolivia’s Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo said that in addition to Zuniga, former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador was also taken into custody.
“What was this group’s goal? The goal was to overturn the democratically elected authority,” del Castillo told journalists while announcing the arrests.
The rebel military leader had claimed he wanted to “restructure democracy” and that while he respected the Bolivian president for now, there would be a change of government.
Arce condemned the coup attempt and called on the public to “organize and mobilize… in favor of democracy.”
“We cannot allow once again coup attempts to take Bolivian lives,” he said in a televised message to the country from inside the presidential palace.
“I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” Arce said.
The president hailed the withdrawal as a victory for Bolivia’s democracy and addressed the country’s citizens in the aftermath, some of whom had taken to the streets in protest at the coup attempt, waving Bolivian flags, singing the national anthem and cheering.
“Many thanks to the Bolivian people,” said Arce. “Long live democracy.”
Late Wednesday, Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo said that “everything is now under control.” Surrounded by the new military chiefs appointed by Arce, Novillo said that Bolivia lived a “failed coup.”
Justice Minister Ivan Lima denied Zuniga’s claims of establishing democracy, saying the rebel leader was lying and trying to justify his actions for which he said he would face justice.
Prosecutors will seek the maximum sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison for Zuniga, Lima said via the social media platform X, “for having attacked democracy and the Constitution.”
Former President Evo Morales also denounced the military’s actions, calling for criminal prosecution against Zuniga and his “accomplices.”
“We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people,” he added.
Bolivia has had a long history of political unrest since it gained independence in 1825.
The incumbent president has led an embattled government since taking office in 2020, fending off pressure from both the left and the right.
Bolivia 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.
Source: Press TV
25, July 2024
Russia’s Mi-28 Helicopter crashes, all crew members killed 0
A Russian military helicopter has crashed in the country’s Kaluga region during a routine flight killing all of its crew members, as confirmed by the country’s Defense Ministry.
In a statement early on Thursday, Russia’s defense ministry said that a Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the Zhizdra district of the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow, killing all its crew members.
The ministry said a technical malfunction was likely to blame, but no specific number of individuals on board was mentioned. However, a Mi-28 helicopter usually carries a crew of two.
“A commission of the Russian Aerospace Forces is working at the site of the crash,” the ministry added.
According to TASS news agency, the helicopter was performing a scheduled flight when the incident occurred. The crew members did not survive, as the Mi-28 is not equipped with a crew ejection system, unlike the Ka-52 “Alligator” helicopter.
The Russian aircraft crashed in a remote area near the village of Klyonki, without causing any further damage on the ground, as reported by local officials.
The governor of Kaluga, Vladislav Shapsha, has confirmed the incident, revealing that the crash occurred in Zhizdrinsk district on the border with the Bryansk region, which is on the frontier with Ukraine.
Shapsha wrote on Telegram that rescuers were working at the crash site.
Moreover, the Telegram channel of Mash online newspaper disclosed that the helicopter, which is often used on drone-hunting missions, was heading back from a combat mission when a crew member spotted a fire on board, apparently caused by an engine malfunction.
As a result, the pilot decided to redirect the aircraft to an unpopulated area to prevent any potential harm to civilians.
The Cold War-era Mi-28 helicopter is a twin-seat attack helicopter, designed as an anti-tank attack platform similar in scope and function to the American Hughes AH-64 Apache series.
It took its first flight in 1982, becoming an all-weather attack helicopter with multiple updated models.
Source: Presstv