Paraguay’s Senate opened an impeachment trial against President Santiago Peña on Thursday night, charging him with poor performance of duties over his ties to the collapsed Ueno Bank.
The Paraguayan Senate formally launched the process hours after a chaotic afternoon in the capital. Peña had submitted his resignation, and an extraordinary bicameral session of Congress convened to vote on whether to accept it. Ruling-party legislators walked out of the chamber instead, breaking quorum and leaving the president formally in office.
The failed vote resolved nothing. The libel accusation already approved by the Chamber of Deputies moved to the upper house, which opened the impeachment Thursday night on charges of poor performance of duties.
RELATED: Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Resigns Amid Ueno Bank Crisis
The case turns on Santiago Peña’s links to Ueno Bank, the intervened lender that received millions in state funds during his administration. Those resources flowed to companies tied to the bank’s owners, ending in a fraud that has affected millions of Paraguayans, according to the accusation.
During the annulled bicameral debate, several lawmakers had spoken against impunity and rejected the resignation outright.
The President’s attempt to step aside did not stop the process. His resignation, filed before the vote, was meant to derail the impeachment. The accusation advanced anyway once the Senate opened its formal proceedings.
📜 Resolución Nº 3287, por la cual se convoca a la Cámara de Senadores a sesiones extraordinarias los días 5 y 6 de noviembre para la tramitación del juicio político al presidente de la República, Don Santiago Peña#SenadoPy pic.twitter.com/iVkDVXJkv2
— SenadoPy (@SenadoresPy) November 6, 2026
Text reads: “Resolution 3287, by which the Senate is convened for extraordinary sessions on November 5 and 6 to conduct the political trial of the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña.”
Peña Vows Defense
Santiago Peña answered with a statement of his own Thursday night. He announced that he will appear and exercise his right to defense in the impeachment now underway.
He will defend himself, he wrote, “because being accountable and giving explanations is also a responsibility toward the Paraguayan people.” Outside, thousands of Paraguayans kept demanding that he face justice for his role in the scandal.
The investigation centers on crimes of fraud, breach of trust and improper conduct. Under the constitutional process now in motion, the Paraguayan President is scheduled to appear and present his defense on Friday at 10:00 A.M. local time, after the accusing prosecutors from the Chamber of Deputies presented the charges.
The Peña’s resignation submitted was itself the central dispute. Lawmakers who opposed it argued that accepting the move would hand the President an escape. A resignation accepted would convert him into a senator for life, a status that carries parliamentary immunity and a judicial shield.
That immunity is exactly what the trial seeks to strip away. If the impeachment ends in his removal, Peña loses the privilege and can face ordinary prosecution over the bank’s collapse. The resignation, by contrast, would have preserved it.
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Una publicación compartida de teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
The Senate now controls the process. Santiago Peña has promised to come and defend himself. The crowd outside has said it will stay until he answers.
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