Asuncion (Paraguay) (AFP) – Paraguayan President Santiago Pena, who is facing impeachment proceedings following a banking scandal that has affected millions of people, on Friday requested three days more to prepare his defense. The crisis erupted on Tuesday when the Central Bank took control of Ueno Bank over fears for its solvency and froze the accounts of around three million customers, nearly half the country’s population. Pena, who previously owned a stake in a group that controlled the bank, tendered his resignation on Thursday, but Congress put his resignation on hold while the impeachment process moves forward.
Writing on X, the 47-year-old president, an economist by training, said: “I have requested a 72-hour extension to prepare my defense.” He said that he had been served with a 15-page indictment with around 300 pages of appendices only the evening before. “This is not due process,” he added. The Senate, which had been due to vote Friday on whether to impeach him, was meeting to consider his request for a delay.
The Central Bank’s intervention in Ueno came as a shock in the South American country, which has a reputation for being economically and politically stable. The Central Bank said that Ueno had breached minimum solvency requirements. Pena, who came to power in 2023, owned shares in Grupo Vasquez, which has majority control of Ueno, until 2025 when he sold them. The opposition has accused him of conflict of interest, which he denies.
The Attorney General’s Office said it is investigating Pena for “acts related to the supervision and resolution of Ueno Bank S.A. and the placement of public funds in said entity.” In an address to the nation on Thursday, the right-wing leader said: “I want to apologize to the people if at any point I failed.” “It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me,” he added.
The opposition wants to impeach Pena, rather than let him resign. If he resigns, he will automatically become a senator for life and enjoy immunity from prosecution, constitutional experts and lawmakers explained to AFP. In dramatic scenes in Congress, MPs from his own ruling party joined ranks with the opposition on Thursday in voting to launch impeachment proceedings against him.
Thousands of people took to the streets for a third consecutive night on Thursday in the capital Asuncion and other cities to demand the return of their money. They also demanded Pena’s removal from office and, for some, his imprisonment. “Santiago Pena has hurt so many Paraguayans, so many families, business owners and small business people, including my own son, who had savings in Ueno Bank,” Cynthia Farina told AFP at a protest in Asuncion.
Ueno began as a small fintech company with a digital-first model that attracted many low-income customers. It rapidly grew into a major bank that handled state pensions and the accounts of several state entities. Central Bank president Carlos Carvallo, who previously headed Ueno, resigned over the scandal. Arrest warrants have been issued for eight of the bank’s executives. The Central Bank has said that protecting deposits is its priority and assured that the bank’s woes do not “represent the broader state of the Paraguayan financial system.”
© 2024 AFP
