MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay’s Senate removes Santiago Peña, who is placed under arrest, and Pedro Alliana takes office

The removal was approved at 6.55 p.m. local time by all 44 senators present out of 45, including those of the ruling Colorado Party, after a trial lasting some ten hours

Paraguay’s Senate on Friday removed President Santiago Peña from office in an impeachment trial for “poor performance of his duties” over the collapse of Ueno Bank, and hours later prosecutors ordered him placed under house arrest over alleged economic crimes. Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in before Congress that night as the new head of state and will serve out the term until August 15, 2028.

The removal was approved at 6.55 p.m. local time by all 44 senators present out of 45, including those of the ruling Colorado Party, after a trial lasting some ten hours. With it, Peña loses the lifetime Senate seat and parliamentary immunity he would have obtained had Congress accepted the resignation he tendered on Thursday, which was never considered. Thousands of savers gathered outside Congress celebrated the decision.

Prosecutor Christian Benítez said Peña will remain detained at home until he is placed at the disposal of the Specialised Unit for Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption. According to La Nación, prosecutors are investigating him for alleged breach of trust, influence peddling and self-serving administration. The order also covers former Central Bank president Carlos Carvallo, according to the Associated Press. Peña denies any wrongdoing.

The Senate rejected the 72-hour extension the president had requested to prepare his defence. Peña, who had said on Thursday that he would appear, ultimately did not attend and sent his lawyers, Adolfo Ferreiro — who in 2012 defended President Fernando Lugo, also removed through impeachment — and Ricardo Preda. Both argued they had not had enough time to prepare a defence and that the trial was moot after the resignation, arguments the Senate rejected.

“I submitted my resignation to avoid further harm to the country and help restore calm to Paraguay. I do not want my presence to be a cause of further division or instability,” Peña wrote in a farewell message. “I say goodbye with gratitude, without ignoring the anguish of those who are waiting for answers today.”

Alliana, 52, born in Pilar, a former governor of Ñeembucú department and former president of the Colorado Party, was sworn in minutes after the removal. Antonio Barrios took over as vice president, according to ABC Color. The opposition accepted the succession, albeit with reservations. “We accept this situation to ensure institutional continuity for the country,” said opposition senator Rafael Filizzola, who called Alliana “complicit” in what happened. Alliana had publicly distanced himself from Peña on the eve of the bank takeover and is expected to make changes to the government and the Central Bank.

The fall of Peña, a 47-year-old economist who took office in August 2023 with a modernising message, unfolded in just four days. On Tuesday, the Central Bank took over Ueno Bank over insolvency and irregular loans to companies owned by its owners, freezing the deposits of nearly three million customers, about 60% of the adult population, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in public and pension funds. Carvallo had been the bank’s chief executive before Peña appointed him to head the Central Bank, and Peña himself was a shareholder in the bank’s holding company until April 2025. On Thursday, the Colorado Party withdrew its support, led by its president, former President Horacio Cartes, who backed the impeachment.