State crisis in South America: Santiago Peña deposed as President of Paraguay

Asuncion. Santiago Peña has been deposed as President of Paraguay. The South American country's Senate voted unanimously for the impeachment, after the Chamber of Deputies had previously voted unanimously to end Peña's presidency early, as seen on Paraguayan television.

The senators agreed that Peña was guilty of dereliction of duty in office. The accused did not appear at the hearing in the Senate, but was represented by his lawyers. He had previously asked for the appointment to be postponed by 72 hours, but this was rejected by a clear majority of senators. The day before, Peña had announced that he wanted to defend himself.

Peña submitted his resignation on Thursday to forestall impeachment proceedings. But the resignation request was not accepted at a joint meeting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The committee no longer had a quorum after numerous MPs left the room.

The controversy is not least about the question of the extent to which Peña can be legally prosecuted for possible involvement in the current banking scandal in the country. According to the constitution, democratically elected former presidents become senators for life - with the express exception of: if they were found guilty in an impeachment trial. As a senator, Peña enjoyed parliamentary immunity.

Paraguay is currently being rocked by financial and political crises. Millions of people fear for their savings since Ueno Bank, one of the country's largest banks, became effective and the central bank began resolution proceedings.