Paraguay President Santiago Peña Offers Resignation as Senate Opens Impeachment Trial Over Bank Collapse
Santiago Peña said he would step down after the collapse of Ueno Bank froze the savings of about 3 million customers. The Senate opened an impeachment trial Thursday night, and Peña asked Friday for 72 hours to prepare his defense.
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, President Santiago Peña offered to resign on Thursday after the collapse of Ueno Bank froze the savings of about 3 million customers, and the Senate opened an impeachment trial the same night. On Friday, Peña asked for 72 hours to prepare his defense.
“I have made the decision to submit my resignation from the Presidency of the Republic. I do so with the stability of our country, social peace, and the need to preserve our public institutions in mind,” Peña said in a message posted on his official social media accounts.
Impeachment charges and a criminal investigation
The Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously on Thursday to launch impeachment proceedings, accusing Peña of “serious and systematic dereliction of duty” in connection with his dealings with the bank. Attorney General Emiliano Rolón Fernández opened three criminal cases against Peña and other former officials tied to the bank crisis.
Peña said he would appear at the trial and defend himself. “I will do so with arguments and evidence, with respect for the Constitution and the institutions of the Republic,” he said. He said he had been served with a 15-page indictment and about 300 pages of appendices the evening before, and the Senate planned to meet to consider his request for more time.
Both chambers of Congress then met in a joint session to decide whether to accept his resignation, but the session ended without a decision after several lawmakers walked out during the vote. If lawmakers had accepted the resignation, Peña would have received immunity and special protections. If the Senate removes him from office, he will not.
How the bank failed
Paraguay’s central bank intervened in Ueno on Tuesday after finding that the digital bank’s solvency ratio had fallen below half of the legal minimum. All of the bank’s services, from cash withdrawals to debit card payments, were blocked at once.
Ueno had about 2.9 million customers, according to the central bank, in a country of about 6.1 million people. The central bank said Thursday night it would start processing guarantee payments to some Ueno customers in stages.
The collapse set off protests in Asunción, the capital. On Wednesday, crowds marched with banners reading “give us our money back,” and police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse one crowd moving toward the Congress building, according to The Times.
Peña, 47, took office in August 2023. He had been a shareholder in the group that owned Ueno until March 2025, according to The Times. Opposition politicians and some members of his own Colorado Party accused him of conflict of interest, diversion of pension funds, and an institutional cover-up. Vice President Pedro Alliana, also of the Colorado Party, is expected to assume the presidency under the constitution if Peña leaves office.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said the relationship between the two countries remains strong and that the United States looks forward to continuing close cooperation on shared priorities, according to CNN.
Reporting based on coverage by CNN and The Times.
