2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état

===13 November===
Chiwenga called a press conference at the military headquarters where he read a statement saying that the military would intervene if their historical political allies continued to be targeted.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> He called recent events "treacherous shenanigans" and said that the military "will not hesitate to step in" if that was necessary to protect the Zimbabwean revolution.<ref name=":4" /> Chiwenga urged people to attend the December 2017 ZANU–PF party congress to exercise their democratic rights and that the party had been infiltrated by counter-revolutionaries. He also said that the infighting and purges in ZANU–PF had led to chaos and "no meaningful development in the country for the past five years".<ref name=":7" /> The statement was made with ninety high-ranking officers from important units of the [[Zimbabwe National Army]] present to create an image of army unity. The statement was originally broadcast on [[Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation]], the state broadcaster, but pulled off the air, though there was no initial official government response.<ref name=":4" />