Paraguay opposition files impeachment articles against President Santiago Peña
Thirty-five lawmakers accuse Peña over the handling of Ueno’s collapse and seek a special session, but the opposition lacks the votes to advance proceedings alone.
Paraguay’s opposition submitted impeachment articles against President Santiago Peña in Asunción on November 4, linking their push to the collapse of digital lender Ueno, which left roughly three million customers unable to access their accounts, Reuters reported. The lawmakers asked congressional leaders to convene an extraordinary session on November 5 to debate Peña’s future.
What the lawmakers accuse Peña of
Thirty-five lawmakers filed the articles in the 80-seat lower house. They accused Peña of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups related to the handling of Ueno’s collapse. Those are allegations in the impeachment push, not findings established by the reporting. Reuters said the opposition remained short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance proceedings, though several dissenting members of the governing Colorado Party had backed it.
Peña had not publicly addressed the impeachment effort, and the presidency did not immediately respond to Reuters’s request for comment. In a November 4 social media post, he urged political leaders to put depositors first and said those responsible for irregularities would face justice “without exceptions.” Reuters reported that Peña was a shareholder in Grupo Vázquez, which controls Ueno, until March 2025; that fact alone does not establish the lawmakers’ accusations.
How Ueno’s collapse affected customers
Paraguay’s central bank intervened after determining that Ueno had breached minimum solvency requirements, Reuters reported. MercoPress reported that the central bank took over the bank on November 3 after its solvency ratio fell below 50% of the legal minimum, froze its assets and liabilities, and suspended its services. The frozen funds included customer savings and more than US$800 million in public funds, according to MercoPress.
The fallout has reached beyond Ueno. Reuters reported that the central bank chief resigned on November 3 and that eight executives turned themselves in after prosecutors issued arrest warrants; courts ordered their assets frozen as the investigation widened. The Association of Banks of Paraguay said lenders were absorbing a surge of customers moving accounts from Ueno and that the banking system continued to operate normally.
Central Bank President Carlos Carvallo described the takeover as an “isolated, one-off event” and said the financial system remained “sound and healthy,” MercoPress reported. The requested extraordinary session would provide the next procedural step in Congress; the available reporting does not establish whether it convened or what action followed.
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Sources and context
- Paraguay bank crisis spurs lawmakers' calls to impeach presidentReuters, republished by The Straits Times
- Paraguay takes over Ueno Bank, with 3 million customers, and freezes its depositsMercoPress
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.
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