Paraguay’s President has tried to resign over the collapse of a digital bank that left millions of depositors unable to reach their money. Lawmakers have refused to let him go.
Santiago Peña announced his resignation yesterday in a video posted on social media. He said he was acting for the sake of the country’s stability, social peace and its democratic institutions, and apologised to Paraguayans for any failings on his part.
Minutes later the Chamber of Deputies voted 78-0 to impeach him, sending the case to the Senate. It shelved a parallel motion against Vice President Pedro Alliana, who is next in line.
A joint session of Congress called to accept the resignation then collapsed. According to The Rio Times, it lost its quorum when members of Peña’s ruling Colorado Party walked out as they were losing the vote.
Opposition lawmakers and many in the ruling party wanted the trial to go ahead. A president who steps down normally becomes a senator for life with immunity from prosecution, a status that removal from office would strip away.
The Senate was due to resume the trial today, with 30 of its 45 members needed to remove him. Peña said he would appear and exercise his right to a defence.
The crisis erupted on November 3, when the central bank took control of Ueno Bank after its solvency ratio fell below the legal minimum. The lender claimed some three million customers in a country of 6.5 million and held close to €760 million ($850 million) in public funds, including pension money.
Central bank head Carlos Carvallo, who had previously run Ueno’s predecessor, resigned the same day. Eight Ueno executives, including founder Miguel Vázquez, were detained and Attorney General Emiliano Rolón Fernández ordered three criminal investigations, one of them involving the President.
Peña was a business partner of Grupo Vázquez, the conglomerate that owns Ueno, until March 2025. He has repeatedly denied any improper ties and only weeks ago dismissed concerns about the bank as a smear campaign.
The ruling party also turned on him. Former president Horacio Cartes, who leads the Colorados, said the party would not side with the theft of public, private and pension funds.
Peña, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, had already pulled out of the Ibero-American Summit held in Madrid on November 4-5.
His downfall comes months after Asunción hosted the signing of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement on January 17. The deal has applied provisionally since May 1 despite fierce resistance from European farmers and a legal challenge from Poland at the European Court of Justice.
If the Senate removes Peña, Alliana would serve out the term until August 2028.
