Paraguay's Congress fails to accept President Peña's resignation as Senate moves to impeach over Ueno bank collapse

Paraguay's Congress has not accepted President Santiago Peña's resignation: a joint session of both chambers lost quorum when lawmakers from his Colorado Party walked out, Al Jazeera reports. The Senate is meanwhile moving ahead with impeachment, and the attorney general has ordered three criminal investigations.

The trigger is the collapse of the digital bank Ueno, which had about three million customers in a country of 6.5 million. Nearly $850 million in public funds were held at the bank. Central bank governor Carlos Carvallo has already resigned.

Who would succeed Peña

If Peña is removed, Vice President Pedro Alliana, also of the Colorado Party, which has ruled Paraguay almost without interruption since the mid-20th century, would most likely take over.

Update, November 6

On November 6 the Senate rejected Peña's request for another 72 hours by 39 votes to three, with two abstentions, then all 41 senators present voted to admit the prosecution's evidence. Removal requires 30 of 45 senators. "That is not due process," Peña wrote on X, after receiving the summons and some 300 pages of evidence hours before the session.

Chief of staff Javier Giménez and legal adviser Roberto Moreno resigned, as did Interior Minister Enrique Riera a day earlier. Prosecutors opened three criminal investigations, including complaints against Peña and Vice-President Pedro Alliana, and a judge ordered six Ueno directors held in pretrial detention. Almost three million customers still cannot access their accounts. Former president Horacio Cartes publicly backed the removal. If Peña is removed, Alliana would serve until August 2028. The removal vote is expected on the night of November 6.