As of about 9:45 AM IST (04:15 GMT), Friday 6 November 2026. This is a fast-moving political and banking story; figures and procedural steps are attributed to the outlets that reported them.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned on Thursday 5 November after the collapse of digital lender Ueno Bank froze deposits for about three million customers and triggered street protests, according to the Guardian, BBC News and Reuters. Hours later, the lower house of Congress voted unanimously to impeach him, and the case moved to the Senate.
Peña, a 47-year-old economist who took office in August 2023, said he was stepping down for the country’s stability and social peace. His resignation still needs congressional action under Paraguay’s rules, and opposition senators have argued that an impeachment conviction would strip him of protections that a simple resignation might leave intact.
What happened at Ueno Bank
Ueno grew rapidly from a niche finance company into one of Paraguay’s largest digital banks after regulators authorised it to operate as a full digital bank late in 2023, the Guardian reported. It marketed cash-back offers, sponsored the national football team and claimed roughly 60% of the adult population as customers in a country of about 6.5 million people.
On Monday this week, Paraguay’s central bank ordered Ueno into resolution after finding that once poorly documented lending and misclassified expenses were corrected, capital fell well below the legal minimum. The bank’s apps, cards and branches went dark, leaving depositors unable to pay for food and daily expenses. Eight Ueno executives have been detained, Reuters reported, and the central bank chief resigned earlier in the crisis.
Ueno also held between about $800 million and $850 million in deposits from state and pension entities, according to reporting summarised by Reuters and the Guardian. That concentration of public money has fuelled accusations of conflicts of interest because Peña previously held shares in the group that owned the bank.
Peña’s announcement and the apology
In a video posted on Thursday, Peña said Paraguay’s republic must come before any person. He apologised if he had failed the public and said his priority was restoring peace of mind for people who had trusted the financial system. He insisted he had committed no wrongdoing and said he had already disposed of his shares, describing his earlier stake as an investment by an economist rather than improper favouritism.
Pressure intensified after former president Horacio Cartes, once an ally, endorsed impeachment in a public message, the Guardian reported. Members of Peña’s own Colorado Party joined opposition lawmakers in backing the motion.
Impeachment versus resignation
About an hour after Peña’s video, the Chamber of Deputies approved the impeachment motion unanimously, AP and Euronews reported. Both houses declined to treat the resignation as settled; the Senate scheduled proceedings in which Peña said he would appear to exercise his right of defence.
Opposition senators have argued that allowing him to resign without conviction could leave him eligible for a lifetime Senate seat and related legal protections. An impeachment conviction would remove those protections and leave him open to ordinary criminal proceedings if prosecutors file charges. Vice President Pedro Alliana is next in the line of succession; he has denied any involvement in the Ueno scandal, Reuters reported.
Why the crisis hit so hard
Ueno’s customer base made the freeze a national event rather than a niche bank failure. Long lines formed outside branches, other banks’ mobile apps briefly crashed as people tried to open new accounts, and protests clashed with police near Congress, photo agencies and Reuters reported. The episode has also shaken Paraguay’s reputation as a relatively stable destination for foreign investment, especially from neighbouring Brazil, with sovereign bond prices falling after the resignation news.
Regional and US context
Peña had been one of Washington’s closer partners in South America and attended Donald Trump’s second inauguration. US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had praised him as a strategic partner on critical minerals and economic cooperation. As of Thursday evening reporting, neither Rubio nor Trump had publicly commented on the resignation.
What to watch next
- Whether the Senate accepts the resignation, proceeds with an impeachment trial, or both.
- Whether Alliana is sworn in, and on what timetable.
- How regulators and the deposit guarantee fund restore access to frozen savings.
- Any criminal filings by Attorney General Emiliano Rolón Fernández.
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