Ueno Bank fraud: victims demand immediate impeachment trial against Santiago Peña
Hundreds of protestors gathered in Asunción to demand that the outgoing president face impeachment proceedings. The scandal affects approximately 3 million Paraguayans.
Protestors pressure Congress to try Peña over Ueno Bank collapse
Hundreds of people congregated on Friday 6 June in front of the seat of the National Congress in Asunción to demand the immediate resolution of impeachment proceedings against outgoing president Santiago Peña. According to diarioeloriental.com, the gathering brought together healthcare workers, trade unions, students and citizens who had self-organised.
The demonstration takes place in the context of the dissolution of Ueno Bank, a financial institution through which Peña is accused of having headed a scheme for fraudulent capture of public funds affecting approximately 3 million Paraguayans.
Hermo Rodríguez, general secretary of the Paraguay Pyahura Party, declared that citizens demand that Peña "take the stand as an accused" and be tried that same day. "From the beginning we said that we would be worse off with Santiago Peña," Rodríguez affirmed, implicating him as responsible for the fraud scheme.
On the legislative front, the Upper Chamber rejected the request presented by Peña's defence for an additional 72 hours to prepare his arguments before appearing before the Plenary. The defence had invoked procedural law to justify the request.
As the political process advances, affected savers face digital queues of up to four or five hours, coordinated by the Central Bank to manage the return of deposits affected by the collapse of the financial institution.
Source: Google News CL — Santiago