Santiago Peña: from presidency to house arrest following removal in Paraguay
Paraguay's Senate removed Santiago Peña unanimously following the Ueno Bank scandal. Hours later he was placed under house arrest in Asunción.
Peña detained in Asunción following historic removal by Paraguayan Congress
Santiago Peña, removed as president of Paraguay on Friday, is under house arrest at his residence in Asunción, according to confirmation from a Paraguayan Police commissioner to media present at the location. According to peru21.pe, the detention order was issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office, and authorities announced that on Saturday morning he would be transferred to the Economic Crimes Unit.
Peña's fall occurred within hours: the Senate declared him guilty of malfeasance and approved his removal unanimously, with 44 votes in favour and one absence. He is the second president in the country's history to lose office through an impeachment trial, after Fernando Lugo, who was removed in 2012.
The Ueno Bank scandal, trigger of the crisis
The accusation against Peña is framed within the collapse of Ueno Bank, one of the country's principal banks, which was intervened this week by the Central Bank after confirming it had fallen below the required minimum solvency levels. The bank is linked to a business group of which Peña was a shareholder until 2025.
The intervention left in doubt the deposits of millions of customers, among them the Institute of Social Security, the state entity that administers pensions and social security in Paraguay. Affected savers, pensioners and students gathered in the streets surrounding the Legislative Palace in Asunción from the moment Peña's resignation became known. Following his removal on Friday, the protesters celebrated the result with applause, embraces and tears.
The rejected resignation that opened the path to detention
On Thursday, Peña submitted his resignation, a move that the opposition characterised as an attempt to evade criminal prosecution. Had it been accepted, the former president would have become a lifetime senator and would have retained parliamentary immunity, from which only a Congressional vote could have stripped him.
However, when legislators were voting on whether to accept the resignation, deputies from the Colorado Party—to which Peña belongs—abandoned the plenary and the absence of a quorum was declared. The agreement between the blocs was to proceed directly with the impeachment trial opened by deputies, which rendered the resignation ineffective.
The Chamber of Deputies had approved the opening of the impeachment trial on Thursday with votes from members of the president's own party. Less than 24 hours later, the Senate completed the removal amid calls from opposition legislators for Peña to answer to the Public Prosecutor's Office for his possible responsibility in the bank's management.
With the rejection of the resignation and the choice to proceed with impeachment, Peña became exposed to the criminal liabilities being investigated by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which according to Paraguayan press had already issued the detention order against the now former president before the legislative process concluded.
Alliana sworn in as president to complete the term
Shortly after the impeachment trial concluded, Pedro Alliana, until then vice-president, was sworn in as president before the same Congress. Alliana must complete Peña's term, which was to end in August 2028.
Peña's farewell message on X
On Friday afternoon, before his detention became known, Peña posted a message on X in a tone of farewell. "I do not want my presence to be a cause of greater division or instability. My responsibility is to place the country above my personal destiny," he wrote.
The former president asserted that he submitted his resignation to contribute to restoring tranquility to Paraguay, and called for efforts to be united to "rebuild institutionality and recover confidence," acknowledging the anguish of those awaiting answers about their deposits in Ueno Bank.
During the impeachment trial, the accusation centred primarily on an alleged conflict of interest stemming from Peña's links with the conglomerate that manages the intervened bank. The Central Bank's intervention of Ueno Bank generated a profound impact on the population, particularly among those who now see their savings at risk and await the Deposit Guarantee Fund covering their funds.
Source: Google News PE — Crime