In brief
On Thursday, November 5, Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña announced his resignation in the wake of the collapse of digital lender Ueno Bank, which left millions of customers unable to access their funds. Lawmakers rushed to an extraordinary session to initiate impeachment proceedings against Peña and Vice President Pedro Alliana, while the Central Bank began resolution proceedings for the failed bank. The resignation also prompted the removal of Central Bank chief Carlos Carvallo and the arrest of eight former Ueno Bank executives.
Paraguay was thrust into a crisis on Thursday, November 5, when President Santiago Peña announced his resignation amid mounting pressure over the collapse of digital lender Ueno Bank, which had left millions of customers unable to access their deposits. The resignation was announced in a video posted on X, where Peña said he was stepping down to safeguard national stability, social peace and democratic institutions.
Ueno Bank, a fintech that had grown quickly into a mid‑tier bank managing close to $850 million in public funds, had almost 3 million customers in a country of 6.5 million. In February, the Central Bank had found the bank’s solvency ratio below half the required minimum and intervened, halting all applications and card services.
Following the intervention, the Central Bank began resolution proceedings for the failed bank. The unpaid customers and the impact on public funds have become the focal point of the current political turmoil.
On Wednesday, 35 lawmakers filed a proposal to open impeachment proceedings against President Peña and Vice President Pedro Alliana, accusing the president of conflicts of interest stemming from his previous stake in Ueno Holding. The motion also alleged misuse of pension funds and institutional cover‑ups linked to the bank’s failure.
«He is accused of negligence at the very least and complicity in covering up the fact that the bank was insolvent,» said Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucia Newman.
In a separate statement, former President Horacio Cartes, Peña’s political mentor and leader of the ruling Colorado Party, announced his support for impeachment, further eroding Peña’s backing within his own party.
At Peña’s request, Central Bank chief Carlos Carvallo resigned, and prosecutors ordered the arrest of eight Ueno Bank executives, all of whom were subsequently detained.
With the impeachment motion underway, Vice President Pedro Alliana is set to take office as president. Peña’s final remarks expressed a desire that depositors’ savings be returned, that the deposit guarantee fund fulfil its purpose, and that public funds be protected.
