Asuncion (Paraguay) (AFP) – The impeachment trial of Paraguay’s President Santiago Pena began Friday in the Senate, three days after the implosion of a major bank to which he had links. The lightning-fast hearing comes a day after Pena tendered his resignation over the collapse of Ueno Bank, in which nearly half of all Paraguayans have deposits.
In a fast-moving sequence of events, Congress put Pena’s resignation on hold to allow the impeachment process to proceed. Around three million people have been unable to access their money since the Central Bank took control of Ueno on Tuesday and froze its accounts. The demise of the bank has brought thousands of people onto the streets in protest, demanding that Pena face justice. MPs from the ruling Colorado party abandoned their leader on Thursday and voted in favor of an opposition motion to launch impeachment proceedings.
In an address to the nation on Thursday, 47-year-old Pena said he wanted 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. On Friday, he sought a three-day postponement to the impeachment trial, saying he needed more time to prepare his defense. He stated 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 rejected the request.
Pena, who came to power in 2023, owned shares in Grupo Vasquez, which has majority control of Ueno, until 2025 when he sold his stake. The opposition accuses 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.”
The Central Bank cited fears for Ueno’s solvency when it intervened on Tuesday. The demise of the bank came as a shock in the South American country, which is generally seen as economically and politically stable. 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.
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. “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, and arrest warrants have been issued for eight Ueno executives. The Central Bank has vowed to protect the bank’s depositors and assured that the bank’s woes do not “represent the broader state of the Paraguayan financial system.”
© 2024 AFP
