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Members of Bolivia\u2019s military gathered on Wednesday outside the presidential palace, the country\u2019s president, Luis Arce, said on the platform X<\/a>, in what appeared to be an attempt by a general to take over the government building.<\/p>\n Video on Bolivian television showed the country\u2019s main political plaza occupied by security forces in riot gear, a camouflaged tank ramming into a palace door and soldiers trying to make their way into the palace.<\/p>\n Standing on the doorstep of the palace on Wednesday afternoon and surrounded by members of the armed forces, the general, Juan Jos\u00e9 Z\u00fa\u00f1iga, claimed that the Bolivian Army, air force and navy were \u201cmobilized.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe police force is also with us,\u201d he said in La Paz, the country\u2019s administrative capital.<\/p>\n He later entered the palace briefly, according to local reporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A key minister in Mr. Arce\u2019s government, Mar\u00eda Nela Prada, speaking in a video taken from a building overlooking the occupied plaza, denounced the move as \u201ccoup attempt.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ministers were holding a meeting inside when the military arrived. On X, Mr. Arce, a leftist and the handpicked successor of former President Evo Morales, denounced the effort.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocracy must be respected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Morales claimed that a \u201ccoup,\u201d<\/a> was underway. \u201cAt this time, personnel from the Armed Forces and tanks are deployed in Plaza Murillo,\u201d he said on social media. \u201cLet\u2019s call on the social movements of the countryside and the city to defend democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Local news media had reported that Mr. Zu\u00f1iga was dismissed from his position this week, which some in the country believed to be related to remarks he made about Mr. Morales.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The move was immediately criticized by some leaders in the region, including President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva of Brazil. \u201cCoups have never worked,\u201d he told reporters<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n