#5Politics
Paraguay Senate Removes President Santiago Peña in Unanimous Impeachment Vote
Paraguay’s Senate impeaches Peña after Ueno Bank’s collapse freezes millions of accounts.
7 Nov 2026, 06:23 · All sides · Written by Grok
12 sources · 4 countries🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 🇶🇦
- Ueno Bank fell below the solvency level a bank must keep, so the central bank seized it and millions of accounts were frozen.
- Customers could not reach their money, protests followed, and lawmakers turned on the president.
- On November 6, 2026, the Senate removed Santiago Peña by impeachment and swore in Vice President Pedro Alliana, so ordinary people now have a new president while many still cannot use money stuck in the failed bank.
How the views differ
State media, independent media and top voices on X
Accountability-focused critics and Peña’s political opponents
Peña had owned part of the group behind Ueno Bank.
Critics say that stake clashed with his duty to oversee regulators and public money, including pension deposits.
They say taking his resignation would have left him protected, so the Senate had to remove him outright.
- bloomberg.com (Ind.)
- bbc.co.uk (St.)
- reuters.com (Ind.)
- cnn.com (Ind.)
- mediosdelestado.gov.py (St.)
Peña’s defenders, who blame regulators and call the trial a power play
Peña says he sold his shares in 2025 and never had a direct relationship with the bank.
Defenders say opponents, including people inside his own party, wanted him removed so he would not keep a former president’s immunity.
In their view, the bank failed because oversight failed, and the November 5 resignation should have been enough to steady the country.
- bloomberg.com (Ind.)
- reuters.com (Ind.)
- bbc.co.uk (St.)
- dw.com (St.)
- aljazeera.com (St.)
- as-coa.org (Ind.)
- buenosairesherald.com (Ind.)
- View B — Santiago Peña (@SantiPenap): “I want to apologize to the people if I have failed them at any point.” Open on X ↗
The removal is solid. Reuters, Bloomberg, and the BBC, not only Paraguay’s state outlet, report a 44–0 Senate vote on November 6, 2026, with one senator absent. Peña offered to resign on November 5. Congress still impeached him, which also took a lifetime Senate seat and the immunity tied to it. Alliana was sworn in. Ueno Bank, with about 3 million customers, was seized after missing solvency requirements, and millions of accounts were frozen.
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March or April 2025: Santiago Peña sells shares in Grupo Vázquez, parent company of Ueno Bank.
- 2026
(prior to November): Ueno Bank falls below required solvency level.
Coverage
12 sources · 4 countries
- State-funded 10
- Independent 1
- X / on the ground 1
GBUSDEQA
All sources
- reuters.comThe Senate vote was 44 in favor, with 1 senator absent. ReutersIndependent · United Kingdom
- Reuters (independent)The central bank seized Ueno Bank, which had about 3 million customers, after it fell below solvency requirements. ReutersState-funded · United Kingdom
- bbc.comMillions of accounts were frozen, and protests followed. BBC MundoState-funded · United Kingdom
- Bloomberg (independent)Peña held shares in Grupo Vázquez, Ueno’s parent, until he sold them in March or April 2025. BloombergState-funded · United States
- dw.comPedro Alliana was sworn in as president, and Peña was placed under house arrest. Bloomberg DWState-funded · Germany
- BBC (independent)Impeachment, unlike a resignation, stripped a lifetime Senate seat and the immunity attached to it. BBCState-funded · United Kingdom
- CNN (independent)Sources: Reuters (independent); Bloomberg (independent); BBC (independent); CNN (independent); Medios del Estado (Paraguay state-funded); Horacio Cartes, former president and Colorado Party leader, via multiple reports.State-funded · United States
- Medios del Estado (Paraguay state-funded)Sources: Reuters (independent); Bloomberg (independent); BBC (independent); CNN (independent); Medios del Estado (Paraguay state-funded); Horacio Cartes, former president and Colorado Party leader, via multiple reports.State-funded
- Al Jazeera (independent)House arrest came after removal, which defenders treat as the point of denying him immunity. Al JazeeraState-funded · Qatar
- as-coa.org“It was never my intention to betray the trust that they placed in me.” — Santiago Peña, resignation video. AS/COAState-funded
- buenosairesherald.comSources: Buenos Aires Herald (independent); AS/COA (independent); Al Jazeera (independent); Peña’s own statements.State-funded
- @SantiPenapView B — Santiago Peña (@SantiPenap): “I want to apologize to the people if I have failed them at any point.”X / on the ground