Bank Collapse Sparks Political Crisis as Paraguay’s Peña Resigns
WHO:
NPR - Vice President Pedro Alliana was expected to be sworn in after Congress accepted Peña’s resignation.
NPR - Opposition senators called for a trial, arguing that resignation would preserve Peña’s eligibility to become a senator for life and provide legal protections that could prevent his prosecution.
NPR - Ueno bank President Juan Manuel Gustale’s lawyer, José Fernández Zacur, said senior executives relied on staff for lending decisions: “The president or board is not responsible for deciding who receives a particular loan.”
NPR - The Labor Ministry estimated Ueno’s collapse affected about 7,000 direct and indirect jobs at the bank and related businesses.
ABC News - Protester Luis Pineda said: “Santiago Peña and the Colorado Party have stolen all our savings,” and added, “We are fed up with 70 years of plunder.”
ABC News - Protester Belarmino Balbuena called the bank collapse “yet another assault on honest, hard-working citizens, people whose small savings are the fruit of years of labor.”
BBC News - Santiago Peña resigned as president of Paraguay after the lower house voted in favor of pursuing an impeachment trial.
Cointelegraph - Peña stepped down amid scrutiny of his former ties to Ueno Bank’s parent company.
CNN - Peña said he was resigning and cited the country’s stability, social peace, and the need to preserve public institutions.
CNN - Peña said: “Today my priority is only one thing: the peace of mind of the Paraguayans who entrusted their savings to our financial system.”
CNN - Peña said: “I apologize to the people if I have failed them at any time.”
ABC News - Peña, 47, is a former International Monetary Fund economist who took office in August 2023 for a five-year term.
ABC News - Former president Horacio Cartes, leader of the Colorado Party, withdrew his support for Peña; both main party factions in the lower house then pledged to support impeachment.
ABC News - Central bank chief Carlos Carvallo resigned at Peña’s request. Pedro Acosta Bernal was appointed interim central bank president.
ABC News - Ueno founder Miguel Vázquez, bank President Juan Manuel Gustale, and six other senior executives were detained. Prosecutors charged 27 bank officials and business associates with offenses including breach of trust and attempted fraud.
WHAT:
NPR - Paraguay’s lower house voted 78-0 to impeach Peña and sent the charges to the Senate.
NPR - The guaraní fell nearly 4% against the U.S. dollar, bringing its losses that week to nearly 7%.
NPR - A law required a state guarantee fund to repay stranded depositors within five business days, beginning with eligible accounts of up to about $1,600. Coverage was capped at about $36,000 per customer, which the central bank said would cover the full balances of an estimated 97% of clients.
NPR - A judge ordered six Ueno executives jailed pending trial and two placed under house arrest.
ABC News - Peña defended Ueno and the central bank’s oversight as recently as last month, dismissing concerns as a smear campaign that was spooking the public.
ABC News - Transparency International’s latest perceived-corruption index ranked only Venezuela worse than Paraguay in South America.
ABC News - Ueno had more than 70 locations after winning its banking license in 2023 and sponsored Paraguay’s national soccer team and the country’s main stadium.
ABC News - On one day in September 2025, Ueno lent nearly $39 million to three companies tied to its owners.
ABC News - A rush by Ueno customers to open accounts at other banks caused those banks’ mobile apps to crash.
ABC News - Ueno and other Grupo Vázquez employees protested over severance and unpaid wages, with their salaries trapped at the failed bank.
BBC News - The resignation followed Ueno Bank’s collapse and the lower house’s vote to pursue an impeachment trial.
Cointelegraph - Ueno’s collapse left millions of customers unable to access their funds.
CNN - Ueno Bank was shut down amid a solvency crisis, leaving thousands of customers unable to access their money. Congress must decide whether to accept Peña’s resignation.
CNN - Thirty-five opposition lawmakers and ruling-party dissidents brought charges alleging “serious and systematic dereliction of duty” and seeking Peña’s removal under Article 225 of the Constitution.
CNN - The Central Bank of Paraguay reported Ueno’s solvency ratio had fallen below 50% of the required minimum after adjustments to its financial statements.
ABC News - Ueno had more than 60% of Paraguay’s adults as customers. The bank’s app, cards, and transfers stopped working, branches closed, and customers’ savings were frozen.
ABC News - Authorities began repaying depositors and opening accounts at other banks for about 280,000 people who banked only with Ueno.
ABC News - Peña approved emergency depositor payouts and named a new central bank chief. He said: “Paraguay needs institutions that provide answers and protect our people’s resources.”
WHERE:
ABC News - Paraguay’s national stadium had removed Ueno’s logo; graffiti across Asunción denounced politicians as thieves.
CNN - Ueno had 2.9 million customers in Paraguay, a country of 6.1 million people.
ABC News - Protests took place in Asunción, including outside Congress and the Labor Ministry.
WHEN:
ABC News - Central bank inspectors found a pattern of risky insider lending in June.
WHY:
ABC News - Peña had appointed Carlos Carvallo, president of Ueno’s predecessor, Financiera Ueno, to lead the central bank, which supervises the lender.
ABC News - Ueno attracted customers with cash-back offers on groceries.
ABC News - Ueno’s loans to companies tied to its owners exceeded legal limits and lacked sufficient collateral, according to ABC Color.
CNN - The bank intervention followed a solvency crisis and financial-statement adjustments; customers’ savings were frozen during resolution or dissolution proceedings.
ABC News - Regulators found poorly documented loans to companies linked to Ueno’s owners and expenses incorrectly counted as assets. Correcting the books reduced capital to less than half the legal minimum.
ABC News - Ueno held roughly $800 million in public deposits, about a quarter of its total, including funds from the state pension and health fund and hydroelectric dam operators.
ABC News - Peña had held a stake in Ueno’s holding company until the year before the article. The bank’s predecessor’s president, Carvallo, was appointed to supervise the central bank.
HOW:
NPR - Prosecutors alleged Ueno made large loans to related companies without adequate guarantees and diverted some funds to other businesses in the group.
CNN - The Chamber of Deputies began a special session to debate impeachment charges. Impeachment requires two-thirds of lower-house lawmakers present to send the case to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is needed to remove the president.
ABC News - The central bank seized Ueno and planned to transfer customer accounts and remaining valuable assets to other banks before liquidating the rest.
ABC News - Protesters demanded impeachment and the return of their money; riot police used pepper spray and rubber pellets to push back crowds.
(UPDATED November 5, 2026 22:10 UTC)
Paraguay’s lower house voted unanimously to impeach President Peña, who resigned after Ueno Bank collapsed. Customers’ savings were frozen amid allegations of insider lending and regulatory failures. Authorities began repaying depositors as prosecutors charged executives.
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(UPDATED November 5, 2026 21:03 UTC)
Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña resigned as lawmakers advanced impeachment after Ueno Bank collapsed. The bank failure froze customer savings, while authorities began repaying depositors and transferring accounts. Protesters demanded their money back as executives faced charges over alleged insider lending.
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(UPDATED November 5, 2026 20:04 UTC)
Paraguay’s president Santiago Peña resigned after lawmakers advanced impeachment over Ueno Bank’s collapse and scrutiny of his former ties. The bank’s crisis froze customers’ savings. Authorities are arranging repayments, while Congress considers Peña’s resignation.
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(UPDATED November 5, 2026 18:02 UTC)
Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña resigned as lawmakers pursued impeachment after Ueno Bank collapsed. The failure froze customers’ savings, while regulators found serious financial problems. Authorities began repaying depositors and transferring accounts to other banks.