Paraguayan President Santiago Peña greets after a meeting with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, September 19, 2026.
Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images
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Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña was impeached and placed under house arrest Friday after the collapse of a major U.S. bank with ties to the Paraguayan government. The aftermath left millions of people across the country without access to their money.
Peña is one of Washington’s closest allies in the region and was a shareholder in Ueno Bank, a digital lender that served about 3 million customers, more than half of the country’s adult population.
He was known as a pro-market leader focused on making it easier to do business in the country, but lawmakers said he put state assets at risk and profited from his ties to the bank.
Bank of Ueno said previously more than a million people opened a bank account for the first time using its services, which included generous cash back offers on groceries.
A trial was held against Peña and he appeared before prosecutors on Saturday morning.. The last president removed from office was Fernando Lugo in 2012.
Peña has denied any wrongdoing, but on Thursday he announced his resignation. Lawmakers refused to accept this resignation and instead continued the country’s impeachment process.
During debates in the country’s Senate on Friday, lawmakers unanimously declared Peña guilty of malfeasance in the exercise of his duties, according to the The Senate website.
Prosecutors later charged him with breach of trust, among other charges, before place him under house arrest.
“I want to apologize to the Paraguayan people if I did not meet your expectations,” Peña said in a speech. published on social networks.
Protesters burn an image depicting Paraguayan President Santiago Pena, during a demonstration against the banking crisis and his resignation, in the main square, near the National Congress in Asunción, November 5, 2026.
Daniel Duarte/AFP via Getty Images
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Daniel Duarte/AFP via Getty Images
Pedro Alliana, the country’s vice president, was sworn in as president for the remainder of Peña’s term, until August 2028. a speech on Fridayhe announced that he would take steps to compensate people whose money was lost in the bank’s collapse.
Central Bank of Paraguay said it took control of Ueno Bank on Tuesday because its solvency ratio, an assessment of a company’s long-term financial viability, no longer met legal standards.
Demonstrations broke out in Asunciónthe capital of the country, following the seizure.
NPR’s John Otis and Catherine Osborn contributed reporting to this story.
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