Bolivian president says coup was to control resources

Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora said the failed coup attempt in his country was caused by “foreign interests in the country’s natural resources.” On June 26, General Juan José Zúñiga, the former commander of the Bolivian army, ordered the siege of the presidential palace in La Paz in an attempt to seize power.

“Behind all the coups d’état that our country has experienced there have always been interests in controlling and dominating our natural resources,” said Arce in an exclusive interview with BBC Brasil this Tuesday (16).

The Bolivian president stated that the foreign origin of the action is still being investigated, but there is no doubt that greed for resources was the main motivation.

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“It is clear that Bolivia is a country extremely rich in natural resources. We are the world’s largest lithium reserve. We have rare earths, we have large reserves of fresh water, minerals, gas,” he said.

“We have been a highly coveted country for a long time, and behind all the coups d’état that our country has experienced there have always been interests in controlling and dominating our natural resources. So, it is clear that this coup was not simply to take over the government, but to take control of the strategic resources that we have in Bolivia,” he continued.

Regarding President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s leadership in the region, which is reportedly in decline, Arce disagreed with this assessment.

“I think completely the opposite. President Lula, with the BRICS group and his international trips in the first months of his term, has created a very favorable international climate for the Brazilian economy, demonstrating his ability and leadership to lead Brazil and rise to the challenge of what is happening in the world today with this new international order,” he praised.

For him, this work by the Brazilian president is positive. “We are very pleased that comrade Lula is now looking at the region. Because everyone in the region recognizes that Brazil is a beacon of development and growth and that it has leadership in the country,” he said.

“We haven’t seen this with Bolsonaro or other right-wing presidents, but with Lula, it’s very noticeable. His leadership, charisma and clarity about the region. Comrade Lula is demonstrating not only his ability to take Brazil forward, but also his leadership in the region on a global level, which everyone here in the region recognizes,” he said.