 But he claims he was ordered to stage the uprising by the president, Luis Arce. Now, human rights activists like Janice Bacardassa fear the president will use the coup as an excuse to crack down on opposition. If this is a self-coup, what we will see in the coming hours and days is an increase of political persecution. It will legitimize and give Arce's government more power to arrest new members of the opposition who they deem may be a threat to their governance.