Former President of Paraguay arrested after being relieved of office

O former president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, was arrested this Friday following his dismissal by the Senate, after being found guilty of “bad execution of functions”. The decision is related to its connection to the Ueno bank, currently in financial crisis, whose effects affect half of the population.

According to the local press, the former head of state was arrested by the National Police in his home, located in the capital of the country, Asunción. The arrest warrant was issued by the Paraguayan Public Ministry after evidence of abuse of trust and other crimes committed by Peña in the banking scandal that shook the country. 

The case began to be investigated following a complaint by opposition MPs, who accused the President of Paraguay of illegal enrichment, money laundering, corruption and fraud.

With the vote for the 44 senators present, Peña, 47, became the second president in the recent history of Paraguay to be removed from power through an impeachment process, after Fernando Lugo (2008-2012), from the left.

His successor will so far be Vice President Pedro Alliana.

The former president did not attend the Senate, despite having been summoned personally, and delegated his representation to lawyers, Adolfo Ferreiro and Ricardo Preda, who presented the defense “technical” and “legal” of Peña.

Just before the vote, Peña stated on her social network X account that she had resigned to avoid further damage to the country and to help restore tranquility.

“ I don't want my presence to be a cause for greater division or instability. My responsibility is to put the country above my personal destiny”, he said in a message in which he also called on Paraguayans to unite and rebuild institutionality and regain confidence.

Presenté mi resigns to avoid mas daño al país y contribute to return the tranquility al Paraguay. In the quiero that I witness is the motive of mayor división the instabilidad. Mi responsabilidad es poner al país por enima de mi destino personal. Hoy touches us united as paraguayos to rebuild the institutionality and recover the trust. I undressed with gratitude, sin disconnect the anguish of quienes hoy esperan respuestas. It is time to unite sfuerzos to rebuild the institutionality and meet, with hechos and responsabilidad, a quienes están seendo affected. That Dios blesseda al Paraguay.

— Santiago Peña (@SantiPenap) November 6, 2026

Understand the crisis in Ueno Bank 

Paraguay went into crisis after the Central Bank (BCP) ordered a resolution procedure for Ueno Bank, an institution with 2.9 million clients in a country of 6.1 million inhabitants, which received millionaires from public entities during the mandate of the now-governant.

To this was added the concern of thousands of savers who reported not having access to their resources, among them 32,000 retired from the Social Security Institute (IPS), one of the country's main pension funds.

Even the deputies who acted as accusers in the political trial denounced the loss of about 1.2 billion dollars “of the Paraguayan people” after the bankruptcy of Ueno Bank, and asked for the condemnation of the president, who qualified as “the biggest looter in history” in the country.