LA PAZ, Bolivia — The man behind the attempted coup that has rocked Bolivia remains a mystery to much of the country.
Little known before bursting into Bolivia's presidential palace tailed by tanks and armored vehicles , Juan José Zúñiga served as commander general of the country's armed forces from 2022 until his dramatic sacking and arrest Wednesday. A career military man, Zúñiga owes his post to the very president whom he sought to oust in his attempted coup.
President Luis Arce handpicked Zúñiga as army chief two years ago, vaulting the undistinguished intelligence official who had scored in the lower categories of his military entrance exams to the army's highest ranks. The abrupt promotion angered fellow officers and puzzled analysts, who interpreted Arce's move as a reward for the general's loyalty.
Even as Arce reshuffled other top military positions, most recently in January, Zúñiga remained in place.
''Zúñiga was Arce's man,'' said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivia-based research group. ''He's no mastermind ... he is rather dull-witted but he's perceived to be completely loyal to Arce.''
Wednesday was not the first time that Zúñiga has found himself at the center of controversy. In 2013, the general faced a firestorm of allegations that he embezzled the equivalent of nearly $400,000 in army funds earmarked to support children and elderly people. The military sent him to jail for seven days for misusing the money as well as for traveling abroad without permission.
Zúñiga denied wrongdoing, explaining the penalty as the result of an internal military, not criminal, investigation that found he had failed to control his subordinates.
''He's a military man yet with no ability to lead the armed forces,'' said retired army officer and security analyst Jorge Santiesteban, describing Zúñiga's appointment as ''irregular.''
