Santiago Peña resigns as president of Paraguay amid the Ueno Bank crisis
Paraguay's President Santiago Peña announced his resignation on Thursday amid the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of Ueno Bank, a digital lender that left nearly three million customers without access to their savings. Peña announced his decision in a video posted on the social network X, while the Chamber of Deputies was debating whether to impeach him.
"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 democratic institutions in mind," Peña said in the recorded message. The president apologized —"It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me"— but did not address the accusations against him directly.
The crisis broke out on Tuesday, when the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) intervened in Ueno Bank after finding that its solvency ratio had fallen below 50% of the required minimum. The lender, which in five years went from a finance company to a digital bank with a strong brand presence, holds about US$850 million in public deposits, including funds from the Social Security Institute (IPS), and about US$2.8 billion in total deposits, according to Bloomberg News.
The opposition accused Peña of conflicts of interest, regulatory manipulation and a cover-up, because he was a shareholder in Grupo Vázquez, Ueno's main shareholder, until March 2025, when he was already president. According to economist Manuel Ferreira, a former finance minister, Ueno's loans to related companies reached US$628 million, far above the legal limit of about US$80 million, which he described as a process of "asset stripping."
The decisive blow came on Thursday morning, when his own Colorado Party withdrew its support. "We support the impeachment of the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña, in order to restore the institutional order of the Republic," wrote former president Horacio Cartes, the party's chairman and one of Peña's main mentors. Minutes after the resignation, the Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously, 78 votes, to impeach him.
Congress must now decide whether to accept the resignation. If it accepts it, Peña will keep his immunity as a senator for life; if it removes him, he will not. Vice President Pedro Alliana is set to take office and complete the term until August 15, 2028.
Ueno's collapse had already forced the resignation of the BCP's president, Carlos Carvallo, who had previously run Financiera Ueno, and the arrest of eight of the bank's executives. Prosecutors said 27 people have been charged with alleged financial irregularities. In Asunción, protests against the government stretched into a third day, while the BCP activated the Deposit Guarantee Fund, which covers up to about US$38,600 per saver, and announced a first payment of about US$1,600 starting Friday.
Photo: Bloomberg Línea
Source: CNN en Español