Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned on Thursday, 5 November 2026, after the collapse of digital lender Ueno left millions of customers unable to access their bank accounts.
In a video address announcing his decision, Peña said he was stepping down with the stability of the country, social peace and the need to preserve democratic institutions in mind. He added that his greatest wish was for depositors’ funds to be returned and for public money to be protected.
Paraguay’s central bank intervened in Ueno after finding that the bank had breached minimum solvency requirements. The crisis left the company’s roughly 3 million customers — in a country of about 6.5 million people — unable to access their accounts.
Peña, an ally of US President Donald Trump, stepped down as the opposition called an extraordinary session of Congress to begin impeachment proceedings and protesters demanded his resignation. Earlier on Thursday, he had lost the backing of members of his own conservative Colorado Party.
Lawmakers had accused Peña of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups linked to Ueno, which grew quickly from a niche fintech player into a mid-tier bank administering close to $850 million in public funds.
Vice President Pedro Alliana is set to take office as Peña’s replacement.
Source: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/paraguay-president-pea-resigns-under-mounting-pressure-bank-collapse-2026-11-05/
