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The president, singled out for his connection with the Ueno Bank crisisalso faces a new criminal case opened by the Prosecutor’s Office.
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Peña broadcast his resignation in a recorded message and instructed the Minister of the Interior, Enrique Riera, to deliver the document to Parliament, and since then his whereabouts have been unknown: The presidential spokesperson, Guillermo Grance, and the head of Deputies, Raúl Latorre, admitted that they are unaware of it.
In the bicameral session, the Senate voted to accept the resignation, but Deputies were unable to do so: The pro-government legislators abandoned their seats in the middle of the count and left the House below the 41 members necessary to meet.
The president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, presented his resignation this Thursday. Photo:AFP
The maneuver stopped the agreed departure and reactivated the impeachment trial that the Lower House had previously approved, unanimously, with 78 votes in favor and none against, according to local reports, after Peña’s own party withdrew its support.
Latorre attributed the withdrawal to internal agreements of the ruling party and assured that it retains the majority: “We have the majority”he said, adding that the trial “will continue”.
Along the same lines, the constitutionalist Hugo Estigarribia maintained that, Since the resignation is not resolved, Peña remains president and the Senate must judge him.
Shortly after the failure of the session, Peña broke the silence on the social network Congress and that will “with arguments and evidence”even though he acknowledged that the Upper House had already advanced its decision.
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As he said, it doesn’t move him “a personal pride” but the need to be accountable, and promised to collaborate with Justice and asked that payment to savers not depend on their political luck: “My personal luck is not above Paraguay.”
Almost simultaneously, The president of Congress, Basilio “Bachi” Núñez, urgently convened the Senate as a court to meet from 7:30 p.m. (local time).
In the Senate, however, doubts remained. The liberal legislator Light Blue Yellow He assured that Núñez confirmed that the trial would continue today, while the Colorado senator – from the same alignment as Peña – Gustavo Leite doubted that someone who already resigned HE present at a trial.
The fall of Ueno Bank and its link with Santiago Peña
The trigger was the decision of the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) starting on Tuesday, November 3, Ueno Bank resolution procedureone of the most popular digital entities in the country, due to solvency problems.
The measure suspended the services of 2.9 million customers, caused lines and protests in Asunciónled to the resignation of the president of the regulatory body and opened a political crisis that reaches President Santiago Peña.
Those affected also include funds from the Social Security Institute (IPS)which administers the pensions of a good part of Paraguayan workers, which expanded the social scope of the case.
Liana Caballero, interim president of the BCP, stated that Ueno bank “no longer exists” and explained that keeping its services active would allow new obligations to be generated against a closed entity. The BCP also reported on the payment of the deposit guarantee to savers.
The president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, presented his resignation this Thursday. Photo:AFP
Peña had shares in Ueno Holdingthe bank’s owner group, before divesting them in 2025, and that past as a shareholder is the main point of political pressure against them.
The opposition maintains that during his government numerous public resources towards the entity and questions possible conflicts of interest. The president affirms that this is “a particular case.”
The president canceled his participation in the Summitand Ibero-American of Madrid and asked for the resignation of Carlos Carvallo, head of the Central Bank.
Jurisdiction in Paraguay: the axis of the political dispute
If the resignation is accepted, Peña could access the status of senator for life, with parliamentary jurisdiction. The opposition and protesters warn that That figure would allow him to avoid criminal investigation.
For the senator Yolanda Paredesis summarized in “turn a thief into a senator for life”. In parallel, from the ruling party, Basilio Nunez defended accepting the resignation to “prevent the agony of savers from continuing.”
Between both positions, the Colorado senator Carlos Núñez Agüero proposed to accept the resignation to order the succession, but with the commitment of unseat Peña as soon as the Prosecutor’s Office or a judge requires it.
The Paraguayan Prosecutor’s Office announced that it will include Peña in the investigations of three criminal cases open about the intervened Ueno bank and that also involve other former officials of its management, based on a complaint from legislators presented in 2025 and expanded yesterday.
The president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, presented his resignation this Thursday. Photo:AFP
The The Prosecutor’s Office will also investigateas part of another complaint presented by a group of senators, to Peña and the vice president, Pedro Allianathe former Minister of Economy and Finance Carlos Fernandez Valdovinosas well as authorities and former officials of the Central Bank of Paraguayof the IPS and of the Secretariat for Prevention of Money or Asset Laundering
In front of Congress, in the Plaza de Armas of Asunción, a crowd of affected saversretirees from the Social Security Institute (IPS) and self-convened citizens demand impeachment and jail for the president, under a strong operation by the National Police.
What is coming in the case of Santiago Peña
The first step isl trial in the Senate, where designated deputies will act as prosecutors and Peña will exercise his defensealthough it remains to be defined whether the session will take place tonight or tomorrow. The senator Blanca Ovelar announced that will request a new bicameral session to define the situation of the Executive, which could prolong the uncertainty.
The second front is the succession. If Peña leaves office, by resignation or dismissal, Vice President Pedro Alliana would take overfrom its same political sector, what the opposition sees as a continuity of power: “Peña is leaving but the same group remains,” dsaid the senator Rafael Filizzolaand his colleague Ever Villalba He stated that “Chartism never left.”
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Furthermore, there remains the pressure of Justice and those affected, because Peña’s future will depend both on what the Senate decides and on the progress of the criminal caseand that the country manages to resolve the payment to savers without the political crisis paralyzing it.
