Paraguay President Santiago Peña resigns after bank collapse

Paraguay's President Santiago Peña has announced his resignation following a political crisis sparked by the collapse of a bank linked to him.

"I want to apologise to the people if at any point I failed," he said in a video message on social media. "It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me."

The political crisis in Paraguay erupted after financial institution Ueno Bank entered an insolvency process, which froze all operations.

Lawmakers accused Peña, who was a shareholder until last year in the company that owned the bank, of conflicts of interest and misconduct. His resignation came after Paraguay's lower house of congress voted in favour of pursuing an impeachment trial.

In a video posted on X, a day after opposition lawmakers requested that he be impeached, Peña said his resignation was to protect stability, social peace and democratic institutions.

After the bank, which held pensions and some other public funds, collapsed this week, millions could not access their accounts, and people took to the streets protesting and demanding his resignation.

Peña won election in 2023 representing Paraguay's ruling conservative Colorado Party, beating a centre-left challenger.