Luis Arce

Supporters of former Bolivian President Evo Morales are holding at least 200 soldiers hostage, the Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 2, as their weeks long standoff with the state escalates.

Gen. Juan Mario Paulsen Sandi, left, and Anibal Aguilar Gomez, arrested for his alleged involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt, is presented to the press in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024.

Two Bolivian army leaders were arrested Wednesday after soldiers and tanks took up position in front of government buildings in what President Luis Arce called an attempted coup.

The troops and tanks entered Plaza Murillo, a historic square where the presidency and Congress are situated, in the afternoon, prompting global condemnation of an attack on democracy.

In Bolivia, an attempted military coup concluded with the arrest of its organizer, General Juan Jose Zuniga. The military units he dispatched to the presidential palace in La Paz withdrew from Murillo Square, according to reports from Reuters.

Bolivia is running out of natural gas, its main source of income, due to a lack of investment in exploration for new reserves, a senior official has said.

Since 2014, the country has seen a decline in production, the president of state oil company YPFB, Armin Dorgathen, told reporters in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.

"There were not a lot of exploration projects," he added.

Bolivian President Luis Arce announced Saturday the discovery of major new reserves of natural gas that officials said could eventually bring in $260 million a year.