Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Paraguay’s National Congress in Asunción on Friday to demand that the Senate swiftly complete the impeachment trial of President Santiago Peña over the collapse of Ueno Bank, which has left an estimated three million savers struggling to access their money.
Health workers, labor unions, students and self-organized citizens joined the rally, which organizers said also drew groups from other parts of the country, including San Pedro, Aguaray and Canindeyú.
The mobilization aims to head off political maneuvering and ensure that senators convict Peña. Demonstrators denounce the bank’s failure hits the public’s pockets directly and puts workers’ funds at risk.
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Demonstrators say their goal is to block political maneuvering and ensure senators convict the resigning President Peña. They contend the bank’s collapse strikes the population’s pockets directly and puts workers’ funds at risk.
They accuses resigning President Peña of heading a fraud scheme designed to capture public funds. That operation affects about three million Paraguayans. In a country of fewer than seven million inhabitants, the figure means more than four in every ten people lost access to their money.
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Impeachment Advances
The legislative process moved forward in parallel. On Friday, the Senate rejected a 72-hour request filed by Peña’s defense. His lawyers had asked for additional time to prepare their arguments and appear before the plenary during the impeachment trial. Senators denied the petition on procedural grounds.
A day earlier, on Thursday afternoon, the Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously to open the process. All 78 deputies present supported the measure. It now rests with the Senate, which acts as a tribunal and requires the same margin of votes for a possible conviction.
Peña submitted his resignation earlier on Thursday. Opposition lawmakers and other critics of his administration warned against accepting it. Doing so, they argued, would automatically grant him the privileges of a senator for life. That shield, they added, would protect him judicially and obstruct any investigation into his responsibility for the fraud affecting citizens.
The affected savers, meanwhile, keep waiting. They face digital queues of four to five hours, coordinated by the Central Bank, to access the return of their deposits.
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The failure of Ueno Bank, a digital platform linked to Peña’s business interests, left around three million users unable to manage or withdraw their money. Paraguay counts fewer than seven million inhabitants, so the collapse touches nearly half the population.
Street protests have continued since the night of Tuesday, November 3. On the night of November 5, demonstrators marched from Congress toward the intersection of Palma and Nuestra Señora de la Asunción streets.
The next steps are defined but not yet resolved. The Senate must weigh the impeachment charges against a President who has already stepped aside. For the three million Paraguayans caught in the collapse, the outcome will determine whether and how they recover their deposits.
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