Paraguay’s Senate Boots Santiago Peña, as Pedro Alliana Takes Over Amid Ueno Collapse
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Paraguayan lawmakers unanimously ousted President Santiago Peña over his alleged ties to the failed digital bank ueno, placing him under house arrest, while Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as his replacement.
Pedro Alliana was sworn in as Paraguay's new president on Friday, November 6, after authorities placed his impeached predecessor Santiago Peña under house arrest. Prosecutors said charges against Peña were still being determined and could include influence peddling, and he was ordered to appear at the prosecutor's office on Saturday.
Peña was removed from office about an hour before the inauguration after a unanimous Senate vote. Lawmakers pointed to his past connections to the collapsed digital bank ueno, which had provided accounts for nearly half of the country's population. Although Peña had offered his resignation the previous day, the Senate decided to complete the impeachment process and install Alliana, the former second-in-command.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside Peña's residence as police set up a security cordon. The crisis had started earlier in the week when Paraguay's central bank intervened in ueno, a fast-growing fintech that launched in 2021 and served many people who had previously been left out of the banking system. Questions had emerged about ueno's lending practices and its links to political and financial elites, including Peña, who had been a shareholder in ueno's holding company until last year, and central bank chief Carlos Carvallo, who led ueno until 2023.
Prosecutors also issued an arrest warrant for Carvallo, who resigned earlier in the week, and eight former ueno executives have been detained. Several members of Peña's inner circle, including his interior minister, chief of staff and two advisers, have also resigned.
The impeachment charges alleged that Peña had conflicts of interest, manipulated regulatory oversight, diverted pension funds and participated in an institutional cover-up involving the central bank. Peña denied wrongdoing, dismissing the matter as merely a regulatory issue, while the central bank said Carvallo had recused himself from all decisions related to ueno.
Public demonstrations continued in downtown Asunción, with protesters demanding accountability for ueno's collapse and faster compensation for depositors whose savings remain frozen.