Paraguay’s Senate removed President Santiago Peña, 47, on Friday 6 November 2026, and prosecutors had him detained at his home. Paraguay last removed a president by impeachment in 2012, when Congress ousted Fernando Lugo.
The fall followed the collapse of Ueno Bank, an app-based lender that the Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP), the central bank, placed under a resolution procedure on 3 November. Lawmakers and prosecutors point to Peña’s former stake in Ueno’s parent company, Ueno Holding.
- Who Santiago Peña, an economist from Paraguay’s Colorado Party, was president from 15 August 2023 until 6 November 2026.
- Why The Senate found him guilty of “poor performance of duties” over the Ueno Bank collapse.
- Stake He declared Ueno Holding shares worth 6,144 million guaraníes (Gs), about US$1.03 million; the sale date is disputed.
- Now Prosecutors summoned him to give a statement on Saturday 7 November; reports say he is held at home.
- Next Vice President Pedro Alliana is president until August 2028.
- Prediction markets Polymarket, a crypto-based betting market, gives Pedro Alliana an 11.5% chance of winning Paraguay’s next presidential election (7 November, 7:55 a.m. ET).
- Power Index Paraguay ranks 10th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 35.0 points (November 2026 edition).
Peña rose from central bank economist to finance minister to president, then lost the office within days of the Ueno Bank takeover.
In Plain English
- Impeachment (juicio político): a trial in Congress that can remove a president from office; it is not a criminal trial.
- Colorado Party (ANR): Paraguay’s long-governing conservative party, also known as the Asociación Nacional Republicana.
- Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP): the central bank, which licenses and supervises banks.
- Ueno Bank: a Paraguayan bank run mainly through a phone app, with about 2.9 million clients.
Part of the dossier: Paraguay Ueno Bank crisis hub · The Ueno Bank case explained · Senate removal report · Who owns Ueno Bank · Scandal timeline
From Central Bank Economist to President
Peña was born in Asunción on 16 November 1978 and trained as an economist, with a graduate degree from Columbia University in New York. He worked at the BCP and sat on its board before moving into government.
President Horacio Cartes, a businessman and Colorado Party leader, named him finance minister, a post he held from January 2015 to June 2017. In the party’s 2017 primary he lost to Mario Abdo Benítez, a Colorado rival who became president in 2018.
Peña won the party’s nomination in 2022 and then the presidency on 30 April 2023, finishing about 15 points ahead of Efraín Alegre, the main opposition candidate. He took office on 15 August 2023, and our earlier profile of Santiago Peña covers his term before the crisis.
His Ueno Stake and the Central Bank Link
Peña held shares in Ueno Holding worth Gs 6,144 million (about US$1.03 million at Gs 5,976 per US$), according to the company’s shareholder register of March 2025. Reports differ on whether his 2023 sworn declaration to the state audit office, the Contraloría, disclosed them.
Peña said in April 2025 that he had sold the shares at the end of March, while other reports give April 2025 as the date. The two dates have not been reconciled.
Carlos Carvallo was chairman of Ueno when Peña, then president-elect, nominated him in 2023 to lead the BCP, the body that supervises banks. Carvallo resigned on 3 November, and reports say prosecutors ordered his arrest together with Peña’s, as our report on the former central bank chief sets out.
Reports put deposits of the state pension and health fund, the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS), at Ueno at about Gs 2.1 trillion (about US$350 million) at the end of April 2026. The total of state money frozen at Ueno is reported at widely different amounts.
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How the Impeachment Unfolded
The opposition filed an impeachment motion on Wednesday 4 November, and Peña announced his resignation on Thursday 5 November. Congress did not accept it, because it lacked a quorum.
On Friday 6 November the Senate, sitting as a court, rejected Peña’s request for more time and removed him for “mal desempeño de funciones”, which means poor performance of duties. Reports put the vote at 44 in the 45-seat chamber, though the Senate’s own notice of the session gives no tally.
Pedro Alliana, the vice president and a Colorado politician close to Cartes, was sworn in the same day. His first promises were to control state spending and to set a way to compensate Ueno savers.
Where Peña Stands Legally
Prosecutors opened a case against “Santiago Peña and others” for alleged breach of trust, known in Paraguay as lesión de confianza, and other offences. He has not been convicted.
Reports say prosecutors asked a court to order pretrial detention, and a judge must now hold a hearing. Most accounts place him under house arrest.
Peña was due to give a statement to prosecutors on the morning of Saturday 7 November. He may testify or stay silent, and reports note that silence cannot be read as an admission.
What It Means for the Colorado Party
Alliana, like Peña, is a Colorado, so the party keeps the presidency until August 2028. Peña was the party’s candidate in 2023, and Alliana led the party until 2023.
Reports say the opposition’s impeachment motion of 4 November named Alliana as well as Peña. Reports say a prosecutors’ inquiry also covers him, and he has not been charged.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market, lists Paraguay’s next presidential election, due in 2028, with US$12,020 traded as of 7 November 2026, 7:55 a.m. ET. The market lists 15 candidates; it prices Alliana at 11.5% and Basilio Núñez, the president of Congress, at about 18%, and its top name is at about 21%.
These prices are bets, not polls, and a market this thin can move on a few trades. Kalshi, the other US market we check, is regulated in the US by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and our check on 7 November found no matching Paraguay market there.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for You
For anyone sending money to Paraguay or holding guaraní, the currency has weakened: the dollar cost Gs 5,670 on Friday 30 October and Gs 5,976 on Friday 6 November, a rise of 5.4%. Both are market closes, and other quotes differ slightly.
Investors should watch two things: whether Alliana’s government steadies the banking system, and what happens to Ueno’s US$350 million of bonds due 2031, which the bank issued in March 2026. Both questions are open.
What Is Not Known
The official vote tally, the date Peña sold his Ueno shares, and the legal form and place of his custody are not confirmed. Whether Peña or Alliana will be formally charged, and whether the Senate will confirm a new central bank president, are also open.
The size of the hole in Ueno’s accounts and the amount of state money frozen are not settled. What Peña told prosecutors on Saturday 7 November has not been made public.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Santiago Peña?
Peña is a Paraguayan economist and Colorado Party politician who served as finance minister from 2015 to 2017. He was president from 15 August 2023 until the Senate removed him on 6 November 2026.
Why did Paraguay remove its president?
The Senate found him guilty of poor performance of duties tied to the Ueno Bank collapse. Lawmakers cited his former Ueno Holding stake and his link to the central bank that supervised Ueno.
Is Peña charged with a crime?
Prosecutors have opened a case for alleged breach of trust and related offences, and he was detained on 6 November. He has not been convicted.
Who runs Paraguay now?
Pedro Alliana, the former vice president, was sworn in on 6 November 2026. His term runs to August 2028.
Sources: Senate of Paraguay, notice of the 6 November 2026 session; court and prosecution filings as made public; Contraloría General de la República, asset declarations as published; Polymarket, read 7 November 2026, 7:55 a.m. ET. Guaraní converted at Gs 5,976 per US$, the market-data close of 6 November 2026. Read on 7 November 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief