Paraguay's Senate voted to remove President Santiago Pena over the collapse of Ueno Bank, and he was placed under house arrest. Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in to serve the term ending in August 2028.
Paraguay's Senate voted to remove President Santiago Pena over the collapse of Ueno Bank, one of the country's largest digital lenders. The bank's accounts are frozen, leaving millions of customers unable to access their deposits. Pena had resigned on Thursday, but senators proceeded with impeachment instead of accepting his resignation, stripping him of the lifetime Senate seat and immunity granted to former presidents.
All 44 senators present voted to remove Pena for misconduct in office, making him the second Paraguayan president ousted by impeachment since the end of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship in 1989. Prosecutors ordered the arrest of the ousted president alongside former central bank chief Carlos Carvallo as part of a criminal investigation. Officials later said Pena was placed under house arrest pending a decision by the public prosecutor's office on the final charges against him.
Ueno served about 2.94 million customers, roughly 60% of Paraguay's adult population. As of last month, the bank said it held roughly $800 million in public-sector deposits, about a quarter of its total deposits. Paraguay's central bank ordered a resolution or closure process after finding that Ueno's solvency ratio had fallen below half the required minimum. The bank's app, card payments and transfers stopped working, while branches closed.
Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as president Friday to serve out the term, which ends in August 2028. "The Paraguay we receive today has urgent needs," said Alliana, who is also under investigation in connection with the bank and inherits a government under pressure to return depositors' money and punish those responsible.
The collapse of Ueno Bank has frozen accounts for millions of Paraguayans, disrupted public pension and health care funds, and triggered the country's worst political crisis in more than a decade. The impeachment removes Pena's immunity, leaving him vulnerable to prosecution on charges including breach of trust and influence peddling.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned Thursday after the central bank seized Ueno Bank amid a solvency crisis. The Senate later removed him from office, and prosecutors ordered his arrest.
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