LA PAZ, June 26 (Reuters) - Bolivian armed forces took

over the central square in La Paz on Wednesday and an armored

vehicle rammed the entrance to the presidential palace as

leftist President Luis Arce slammed a "coup" against the

government and called for international support.

Arce denounced the mobilization of some army units in La Paz

led by General Juan Jose Zuniga, who was recently stripped of

his military command, and demanded the troops demobilize.

"Today the country is facing an attempted coup d'état. Today

the country faces once again interests so that democracy in

Bolivia is cut short," he said in comments from the presidential

palace, with armed soldiers outside.

"The Bolivian people are summoned today. We need the

Bolivian people to organize and mobilize against the coup d'état

in favor of democracy."

The United States said it was closely monitoring the

situation and urged calm and restraint.

Tensions have been building in Bolivia ahead of general

elections in 2025, with leftist ex-President Evo Morales

planning to run against former ally Arce, creating a major rift

in the ruling socialist party and wider political uncertainty.

Many do not want a return of Morales, who governed from

2006-2019 when he was ousted amid widespread protests and

replaced by an interim conservative government. Arce then won

election in 2020.

Zuniga said recently that Morales should not be able to

return as president and threatened to block him if he attempted

to, which led Arce to remove him from his post.

On Wednesday, heavily armed soldiers and armored vehicles

gathered in the central Plaza Murillo square, which is home to

the presidential palace and Congress. A Reuters witness saw an

armored vehicle ramming into a door of presidential palace and

soldiers rushing in.

Zuniga addressed reporters in the square and cited growing

anger in the landlocked country, which has been battling an

economic slump with depleted central bank reserves and pressure

on the boliviano currency as gas exports have dried up.

"The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express

our dismay. There will be a new cabinet of ministers, surely

things will change, but our country cannot continue like this

any longer," Zuniga told a local TV station.

"Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop

humiliating our army," he said in full uniform, flanked by

soldiers, insisting the action being taken was supported by the

public.

'STRONGEST CONDEMNATION'

Morales, head of the ruling MAS socialist party, said that

his supporters would mobilize in support of democracy.

He accused Zuniga of seeking to stage a coup and announced a

general work stoppage including a call to block roadways.

"We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and

intimidate people," Morales said.

Public support for Arce and Bolivia's democracy has poured

in from regional leaders, while even conservative political

opponents in Bolivia including jailed ex-President Jeanine Anez

have strongly condemned the military action.

"We express the strongest condemnation of the attempted coup

d'état in Bolivia. Our total support and support for President

Luis Alberto Arce Catacora," Mexican President Andres Manuel

Lopez Obrador said on X.