LA PAZ, Bolivia >> Supporters of Bolivia’s president rallied outside his palace on Thursday, giving some political breathing room to the embattled leader as authorities made more arrests in a coup that shook the economically troubled country a day earlier.

Bolivia’s government announced that a total of 17 people had been arrested for their alleged involvement in the attempted government takeover, including the army chief, Gen. Juan José Zúñiga, and former navy Vice Adm. Juan Arnez Salvador, who were taken into custody the day before.

The South American nation of 12 million watched in shock and bewilderment Wednesday as military forces appeared to turn on the government of President Luis Arce, seizing control of the capital’s main square with armored vehicles, repeatedly crashing a small tank into the presidential palace and unleashing tear gas on protesters.

Senior Cabinet member Eduardo del Castillo did not elaborate on the other 15 people who were arrested on Thursday other than to identify one civilian, Aníbal Aguilar Gómez, as the “mastermind” of the thwarted coup. He said the alleged conspirators began plotting in May.

Riot police guarded the palace doors and Arce — who has struggled to manage the country’s shortages of foreign currency and fuel — emerged on the presidential balcony to condemn Zúñiga and declare that “no one can take democracy away from us.”

Analysts say that the surge of public support for Arce, even if fleeting, provides him with a reprieve from the country’s economic quagmire and political turmoil. The president is locked in a deepening rivalry with the popular former President Evo Morales, his erstwhile ally who has threatened to challenge Arce in 2025 primaries.

“The president’s management has been very bad, there are no dollars, there is no petrol,” said La Paz-based political analyst Paul Coca. “Yesterday’s military move is going to help his image a bit, but it’s no solution.”

Some protesters gathered outside the police station where the former army general was being detained, shouting that he should go to jail. “It’s a shame what Zúñiga did,” said 47-year-old Dora Quispe, one of the demonstrators. “We are in a democracy, not a dictatorship.”

Before his arrest late Wednesday, Zúñiga alleged without providing evidence that Arce had ordered the general to carry out the coup attempt in a ruse to boost the president’s popularity. That fueled a frenzy of speculation about what really happened, and opposition senators and government critics echoed the accusations, calling the mutiny a “self-coup” — a claim strongly denied by Arce’s government.

In La Paz’s main Plaza Murillo, supporters addressed Arce, yelling, “Lucho, you are not alone!” as fireworks exploded overhead. Lucho, a common nickname for Luis, also means “fight” as a Spanish verb.

Some Bolivians said they believed Gen. Zúñiga’s allegations on national TV that the coup attempt was a hoax.

“They are playing with the intelligence of the people, because nobody believes that it was a real coup,” said 48-year-old lawyer Evaristo Mamani.

Lawmakers and former officials, particularly those allied with Morales, bolstered the allegations. “This has been a setup,” said Carlos Romero, a former official in the Morales government. “Zúñiga followed the script as he was ordered.”

Soon after the military maneuver was underway, it became clear that any attempted takeover had no meaningful political support. The rebellion ended bloodlessly by the end of the business day. Arce named a new army commander, who ordered troops to retreat.

“Here we are, firm, in the presidential palace, to confront any coup attempt,” Arce said after facing down Zúñiga. Hundreds of the president’s supporters surged into streets surrounding the palace Wednesday night, singing the national anthem and cheering for Arce.

The U.S. deputy secretary of state for management, Rich Verma, condemned Zuniga’s actions and speaking in Paraguay on Thursday noted that “democracy remains fragile in our hemisphere.”

The short-lived mutiny followed months of mounting tensions between Arce and Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president. Morales has staged a dramatic political comeback since mass protests and a deadly crackdown prompted him to resign and flee in 2019 — a military-backed ouster that his supporters decry as a coup.