The Senate of Paraguay dismissed this Friday President Santiago Peña, who shortly after ended up detained in his residence as a result of the fall of Ueno bank, an entity with which the now former president is linked and to which millionaire funds from state entities ended up during his administration.
What began last Tuesday with a publication in
The measure, according to the issuing entity, was adopted after it was found that Ueno's index was below 50% of the minimum required "as a result of adjustments made to its financial statements" during a regularization process to which it was subjected.
The outcome occurred this Friday, on the second day of a political trial promoted by opposition deputies and dissidents of the ruling party, when with the vote of the 44 senators present, most of them former co-religionists, Peña was declared guilty for “poor performance of duties” and, consequently, dismissed.
The vote, which took place in the absence of the accused, who delegated his representation to two lawyers, made Peña, 47, the second president in the country's recent history to be removed from power through a political trial, after the leftist Fernando Lugo (2008-2012).
Peña remained in office after Congress did not rule due to lack of quorum on the resignation he presented on Thursday.
Since then, the debate focused on the convenience of his departure by resignation or dismissal. Article 189 of the Constitution establishes that democratically elected former presidents will be senators for life, “unless they have been impeached and found guilty.”
A senator for life enjoys privileges and cannot be subjected to criminal proceedings without Congress approving the withdrawal of said immunity.
With the dismissal, Peña will not be a senator for life, which left the way open to subject him to Justice. The now former president was included by the Prosecutor's Office in an investigation into Ueno bank and another series of events reported by legislators.
This is how an arrest warrant was issued, which was made effective shortly after the trial by the Police, when they went to Peña's residence, where he will remain before appearing at a hearing tomorrow.
The BCP findings confirmed what experts and opposition deputies warned about Ueno months ago, while the then head of state advocated for the institution. The shock and discomfort grew as the figures became known. Two out of every three Paraguayans, as indicated on the bank's website, had an account with that entity, including 32,000 of a total of 91,000 retirees from the Social Security Institute (IPS), who received their pensions every month.
The IPS, which invested 355 million dollars in the entity, is one of the five retirement funds that entrusted their funds to an institution that the Central Bank “killed,” since “it had no remedy,” said representative Rocío Vallejo this Friday, when presenting the final arguments of the trial.
The legislator stressed that Peña “created a hole of 1.2 billion dollars for the Paraguayan people” and “three million people were harmed in a single day,” in reference to the resolution process, which is why she referred to the now former ruler as “the biggest embezzler in the history of Paraguay.”
The dismissal activated the succession in the Executive, which passed into the hands of the current vice president, Pedro Alliana, who was sworn in in an extraordinary session of Congress.
He will hold office until August 2028, when the current government period ends.
Antonio Barrios was then sworn in as vice president, elected senator in 2023 and personal physician to the head of the Colorado Party, former president Horacio Cartes.
"What I come to promise is concrete: the compatriots who are going through a difficult time today as a result of the financial disaster will be fully compensated. We are not going to leave them alone," the new president announced in his first speech, in which he anticipated that "enough has already been done abroad," in apparent allusion to Peña's criticized trips, and promised to cut "superfluous expenses."
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor's Office has reported the seizure of assets such as small planes, luxury vehicles and abundant documentation in the raids on Ueno and the Ueno Holding companies, in which Peña had shares until March 2025, according to the accusation.
Also today a judge sent one of the founders of Ueno, Miguel Vázquez, and five other directors to jail as defendants. And the former president of the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) Carlos Carvallo surrendered to local authorities, after an arrest warrant was issued against him amid the scandal over the closure of Ueno bank.
For its part, the Association of Importers and Merchants of Paraguay (Asimcopar) reported that sales in stores and multi-stores have fallen by up to 70% after the closure of Ueno, and the BCP had to put the new 100,000 guaraní banknotes on the market earlier due to the unusual demand for cash.
