Theories about coup abound

A plan to stage a coup against Bolivia's president was not what Gen. Tomás Peña y Lillo was expecting when he entered the military headquarters in La Paz last Wednesday.

- PAOLA FLORES AND ISABEL DEBRE

The leader of Bolivia's retired service members said he was surprised to get a call that morning from army chief Gen. Juan José Zúñiga with a request to report for talks about how to advocate for imprisoned soldiers. It was a coveted meeting, so he rushed over to find Zúñiga surrounded by officers asking for their help in "defending democracy." Peña y Lillo claims he demurred, but tanks were already rumbling out of the barracks toward the presidential palace.

"It's a tragicomedy," Peña y Lillo, now a fugitive wanted for his participation in the alleged coup attempt, told The Associated Press by phone from an undisclosed location.