Santiago Peña deposed and detained in Paraguay following Ueno Bank collapse
Paraguay's Senate voted unanimously to remove Santiago Peña from office, and he was arrested that same night in Asunción. Hércules Alliana assumed the presidency.
Senate votes unanimously and Peña goes from presidency to detention
Santiago Peña ceased to be president of Paraguay at 18.51 on Thursday, when the 44 senators present voted unanimously for his removal, according to lanacion.com.ar. Immediately after the vote was concluded, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested his arrest. That same night, the former president was detained in a residential neighbourhood of Asunción, approximately 20 minutes from the Legislative Palace, although before midnight he was transferred to the Presidential Escort Regiment for security reasons.
The trigger for the crisis was the collapse of Ueno Bank. Since Monday, when Paraguay's Central Bank intervened in the entity and it closed its application and branches, Peña lost all political support, as became evident throughout the legislative session: in approximately 70 speeches, no senator came to his defence.
"Not a minute more": the session that sealed the end
The session began in the morning with 44 senators assembled to establish a quorum. In the first turns to speak, the question was raised of whether to grant the then-president a 72-hour extension to prepare his defence. The response was unanimous: "Not a minute more".
At 18.21, with 29 legislators still listed to speak, Peña took the floor for the last time in his position: "I presented my resignation to prevent further damage to the country and to help restore tranquillity to Paraguay. I do not wish for my presence to be cause for greater division or instability. I say goodbye with gratitude, whilst not disregarding the anguish of those who today await answers".
Minutes later, senator Carlos Núñez demanded that the vote be accelerated: "We cannot be governed for one more minute by this criminal". The president of the Senate, Basilio Núñez, read the verdict: "In accordance with the result of the vote, the accused Santiago Peña Palacios is declared guilty of the charge of poor performance of his duties and is therefore removed entirely from the position of president of the Republic of Paraguay".
Alliana takes office and appoints vice-president linked to Cartes
Five minutes after the Senate session concluded, the bicameral assembly was already being convoked for the succession. Hércules Pedro Alliana took the oath swiftly, delivered a brief speech after hearing the national anthem, and departed without delay. The session continued with the designation of the vice-president, a position left vacant upon Alliana's assumption of the presidency. The chosen candidate was senator Antonio Barrios, known for being the personal physician of former president Horacio Cartes, to whom the new vice-president explicitly gave thanks, referring to him as "friend".
That expression of gratitude was read as the most concrete acknowledgement of the actual power operating in Paraguay. According to lanacion.com.ar, it was from Cartes's offices that the strategy culminating in Peña's impeachment trial was devised. In the drafts prepared in that setting, names appeared of ministers and officials who would leave the Executive Branch in the coming days, with the objective of eliminating those loyal to the former president from the state apparatus.
Alliana will have to complete Peña's mandate until August 2026. In his inauguration speech, he announced that citizens affected by the financial collapse of Ueno Bank "will be fully compensated" and advanced the submission of a legislative initiative to streamline the state. "In the time we have left there is no excuse for errors", he stated.
Celebrations in the plaza and detention of the former president
Outside the Legislative Palace, a plaza separated from the building by a fence gathered the protesters who followed the vote through their mobile phones. In the morning there were only a few; as the afternoon progressed, the plaza filled up. When the 44 votes in favour of removal were confirmed—with one senator absent—celebrations erupted.
News of Peña's arrest spread immediately through the corridors of Congress and reached the plaza. Within hours, the former president had gone from occupying the presidency to being placed at the disposal of the justice system. He will have to appear before the courts in the framework of the case linked to the collapse of Ueno Bank.
Whilst protesters celebrated and senators moved to the larger chamber for the bicameral session, the presidential Honour Guard, a group of military personnel in red and white uniforms, arrived at the main steps of the Legislative Palace, signalling the change of command that was taking place.
Source: Google News CL — Santiago