Key facts
- Paraguay's Senate voted 44-0 to remove Santiago Peña from office on November 6, 2026.
- Prosecutors ordered the arrest of Peña and a former central bank chief the same day.
- Lawmakers accused Peña of steering hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds into Ueno Bank.
- Peña denied wrongdoing and said he did not want his presence to cause greater division.
- Peña's removal bars him from the lifetime Senate seat and its parliamentary immunity.
- Paraguay's largest teachers' union, with more than 40,000 members, plans an indefinite strike on Monday.
Paraguay's Pedro Alliana was sworn in as president on November 6, 2026, hours after the Senate voted 44-0 to remove Santiago Peña from office over the collapse of Ueno Bank, according to Reuters.
The prosecutor's office issued an arrest warrant for Peña and a former central bank chief the same day. Lawmakers accused Peña of using his political influence to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds into Ueno Bank while regulators overlooked risky insider lending. Peña has denied wrongdoing.
Regulators seized Ueno Bank on November 13, 2026, according to the body, freezing nearly half a million accounts. The bank's failure has left many customers unable to access their savings, prompting protests. The government has not said when access will be restored.
Peña submitted his resignation on November 5, but Congress did not accept it. His lawyers, Ricardo Preda and Adolfo Ferreiro, argued lawmakers should have approved his departure instead of pressing ahead with the impeachment trial. Opposition lawmakers insisted on removal to prevent him from leaving office with immunity.
"He must go, but not home. He must go to a maximum-security prison," opposition Sen. Yolanda Paredes told reporters. "The public is fed up with impunity."
In a farewell message released shortly before the verdict, Peña wrote: "I do not want my presence to be a cause of greater division or instability." He added: "My responsibility is to put the country above my personal fate."
Peña's removal also bars him from the lifetime Senate seat granted to elected former presidents under Paraguay's Constitution, denying him the parliamentary immunity that would accompany it.
Thousands of protesters demanding their frozen savings back and accountability for Ueno's failure have clashed with police firing rubber bullets and pepper spray during the week. Paraguay's largest teachers' union, which has more than 40,000 members, plans to begin an indefinite national strike on Monday to press for protection of public pension funds.