Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced his resignation Thursday over the collapse of Ueno Bank, but Congress has not accepted it, and the lower house voted 78-0 to impeach him the same day.
Peña announced the decision in a video on X, saying he wanted to protect stability and social peace. He apologized to Paraguayans but stopped short of accepting blame for the failure of the digital lender, which regulators began winding down Tuesday. Interior Minister Enrique Riera carried the signed letter to Congress.
Congress could not vote on the letter Thursday because ruling-party legislators walked out and broke the quorum. Peña therefore remains in office, and congressional leaders were to take up his letter again on Friday. Opposition senators want the impeachment to continue regardless, and some argue that accepting the resignation would hand Peña a lifetime Senate seat and the immunity that comes with it.
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The 78 deputies who voted Thursday sent the charges to the Senate, where conviction takes 30 of 45 votes. Thirty-five legislators signed the accusation Wednesday, citing conflicts of interest, pension-fund mismanagement and an alleged cover-up of Ueno’s problems. Horacio Cartes, who leads the ruling Colorado Party and championed Peña’s 2023 candidacy, said Thursday the party would back impeachment. Deputies rejected a separate motion against Vice President Pedro Alliana, who is expected to take over if Peña leaves, with 30 votes in favor and 48 against.
In a separate post, Peña said that he will appear at the trial and exercise his right to defend himself. He also said, in a translated quote, that depositors’ repayment “cannot depend on what happens to me.”
The Senate opened the trial Thursday night, received the accusation and ordered Peña to answer at 10 a.m. Friday in Asunción, in person or through lawyers. Senate President Basilio Núñez has outlined five sessions that end in a roll-call vote, and he hopes to finish Friday. No vote has taken place.
Retirees, savers, students and workers have protested in Asunción for three days. Thousands marched toward Congress on Wednesday carrying signs that called Peña “the enemy of savers,” and riot police fired pepper spray and rubber pellets into the crowds. Hundreds of staff from Ueno and Grupo Vázquez gathered outside the Labor Ministry Thursday to demand back pay and severance.
Read: Paraguay Starts Resolution of Ueno Bank After Solvency Falls Below Half the Required Minimum
Peña signed an emergency law Wednesday that lets depositors collect up to 121.76 million guaraníes, about US$19,800, from the deposit guarantee fund within five business days. The central bank expects disbursements to begin Friday. Nearly 2.9 million people banked with Ueno.
Prosecutors have charged 27 people in connection with credit extended to companies in Ueno’s own corporate group. A judge ordered six Ueno executives jailed pending trial and two placed under house arrest. Attorney General Emiliano Rolón Fernández has also ordered three criminal investigations into the collapse, and Peña is among those under investigation.
