Paraguay's Senate removes Santiago Peña and police detain him over the Ueno Bank collapse
Paraguay's Senate removed President Santiago Peña from office on Friday and, hours later, the National Police detained him at his home on orders from the Public Ministry, in the climax of the financial crisis unleashed by the collapse of Ueno Bank, which left nearly three million customers without access to their savings.
All 44 senators present voted unanimously in favor of removal for poor performance in office, including those from the governing Colorado Party, which had withdrawn its support a day earlier. The impeachment trial, which lasted less than ten hours, ended shortly after 6:50 p.m. Paraguayan time, with the unanimous cry of "For the conviction!" in the chamber.
The Public Ministry ordered Peña's house arrest on suspicion of breach of trust, in the case investigating the handling of public funds deposited at Ueno Bank and the president's ties to the financial group. The order, signed by prosecutors Elena Fiore, Christian Benítez and Silvia González Véster, also covers former Central Bank president Carlos Carvallo. According to prosecutors, Peña will remain at his home until he is handed over to the Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption Unit, where he is due to testify on Saturday.
On Friday night, Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as the new president and will complete the term, which ends on August 15, 2028. Alliana had survived an impeachment attempt on Thursday in the Chamber of Deputies, which rejected the charges with 48 votes against and 30 in favor.
Peña had submitted his resignation on Thursday, but Congress did not accept it and pressed ahead with the impeachment trial. Once removed, the former president loses the lifetime Senate seat the Constitution grants elected former presidents, along with the parliamentary immunity it would have carried. A Lo Claro reported on Thursday that Peña had announced his resignation in a video, while the Chamber of Deputies debated his impeachment.
The crisis erupted on Tuesday, when the Central Bank intervened Ueno Bank after finding that its solvency had fallen below the required minimum. The bank holds about $850 million in public deposits, including funds from the Social Security Institute, and prosecutors have charged 27 people, among them Miguel Vázquez, the bank's controlling shareholder, who was arrested this week. It is Paraguay's biggest political crisis since the removal of former president Fernando Lugo in 2012, according to Bloomberg.
Photo: Bloomberg Línea
Source: El País