Peña's resignation stalled as Paraguay opens impeachment over Ueno Bank crisis

Resignation and impeachment

Santiago Peña announced his resignation on Thursday, 5 November, but it did not take effect because Congress lacked the quorum needed to vote on it. The Senate instead opened impeachment proceedings, and Congress has suspended the resignation while that procedure runs, so the president remains provisionally in office. He received the notice of charges at 22:15 local time on Thursday. In a letter to Basilio Núñez, president of the Senate and Congress, he said the accusation was a 15-page document with about 300 pages of annexes, and that fewer than 12 hours was not enough to choose a lawyer and prepare a defence.

Peña asked for a 72-hour extension, but the Senate rejected the request and summoned him to Congress to start the process immediately. He argued that a procedure which could end in a sanction must respect the guarantees of a state under the rule of law. He put the point in one line:

That is not due process.

The Ueno Bank collapse

Ueno Bank was launched in 2021 as a fintech and grew quickly into one of Paraguay's main lenders, using aggressive offers, digital services and heavy advertising. It came to manage about 850 million dollars in public funds, including deposits from state institutions and pension bodies. Supervisors later found risky loans to companies tied to the controlling shareholders and irregularities in how some assets were recorded. Once the accounts were corrected, the bank's capital fell below half the legal minimum, and the Central Bank intervened in early November to move deposits and recoverable assets to other institutions. The opposition accuses Peña of a conflict of interest over his earlier corporate links with the bank.

Accounts, cards and transfers were blocked, leaving about three million customers, nearly half the population, unable to use their money. Long queues formed outside branches. The Central Bank's schedule for returning deposits began on Friday, 6 November, but many depositors remain uncertain about getting their money back. About 7,000 workers at the Grupo Vazquez holding, which controls more than 37 companies besides the bank, fear for their jobs and their wages.

Protests in Asunción

Thousands of people kept vigil on Friday, 6 November, in front of Congress, the bank's central office and the labour ministry in Asunción, many of them wearing Paraguay national team shirts. Protesters set fire to unusable Ueno debit and credit cards. Reports also describe violent clashes with police. Thousands of Grupo Vazquez employees were also in the square.

On the evening of Thursday, 5 November, protesters outside the bank's headquarters drove away the former presidential candidate and leader of the Cruzada Nacional movement, Paraguayo 'Payo' Cubas, throwing bottles and shoving him as he tried to join them. Anger at the bank is now joined by anger among its staff, who fear for their pay.

Defence and next steps

Peña said on social media that he would appear before the Senate and exercise his right to defence, with arguments and evidence and with respect for the constitution. He framed the step as accountability to the Paraguayan people rather than personal pride. He also said he would make his 'truth' public even if it proved uncomfortable for many political actors:

I will never shirk my commitment to the people, least of all in difficult moments.

The session that opened on Thursday closed late in the afternoon, and Peña was set to resume it on Friday, 6 November, at 10:00 local time. A government spokesman denied reports that the president planned to flee the country. The notice he received contained roughly 300 pages of annexes, far more than the 15-page accusation itself.