{"id":3971,"date":"2026-11-07T12:03:43","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T07:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3971"},"modified":"2026-11-07T12:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T07:03:43","slug":"paraguay-swears-in-new-president-as-pena-is-put-under-house-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3971","title":{"rendered":"Paraguay swears in new president as Pe\u00f1a is put under house arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Pedro Alliana was sworn in as Paraguay\u2019s new president on Friday, just \u200bas authorities put his impeached predecessor, Santiago Pe\u00f1a, under house arrest, the latest developments in a fast-moving political and financial \u200ccrisis triggered by the collapse<\/a> of a digital bank.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prosecutors speaking outside Pe\u00f1a\u2019s house in Asunci\u00f3n said charges were still being determined but could include influence peddling. Pe\u00f1a was ordered to appear at the prosecutor\u2019s office on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a was ousted from the presidency about an hour beforehand in a unanimous Senate vote, with lawmakers citing questions over \u200bhis past links to the collapsed digital bank Ueno that had provided accounts for nearly half of Paraguay\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

Although Pe\u00f1a offered his resignation<\/a> \u200bon Thursday, the Senate chose to finalise the impeachment process rather than accept it, and swiftly moved to install \u2060his second-in-command, Alliana.<\/p>\n

By the time of his arrest, dozens of protesters had gathered outside Pe\u00f1a\u2019s residence. Police installed a security cordon around the property.<\/p>\n

The \u200bturmoil began earlier this week when Paraguay\u2019s central bank intervened in ueno<\/a>, whose customers include many people who had not previously had access to a bank \u200baccount.<\/p>\n

The bank had grown rapidly since launching in 2021. But questions had emerged over Ueno\u2019s lending practices and its ties to Paraguay\u2019s political and financial elite \u2014 including Pe\u00f1a, who until last year was a shareholder in Ueno\u2019s holding company, and the central bank chief Carlos Carvallo, who had headed Ueno until 2023.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors on Friday also issued \u200ban arrest warrant for Carvallo, who resigned earlier this week<\/a> as authorities launched last-ditch proceedings to prevent the lender from dissolving. Eight former Ueno executives have \u200balready been detained.<\/p>\n

Others from Pe\u00f1a\u2019s inner circle also resigned, including his interior minister, chief of staff and two advisers.<\/p>\n

The impeachment charges that led to his removal alleged \u200cthat Pe\u00f1a \u2060had conflicts of interest, manipulated regulatory oversight, diverted pension funds, and participated in an institutional cover-up involving the central bank.<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a denied any wrongdoing and said the affair was a regulatory issue. The central bank has denied any conflict of interest, saying Carvallo recused himself from all decisions related to ueno.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Frozen access to funds<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The political crisis has spilt onto the streets<\/a>, with demonstrators flocking to downtown Asuncion demanding accountability for ueno\u2019s collapse and faster compensation for \u200bdepositors whose savings remain frozen.<\/p>\n

Small groups \u200bof protesters gathered opposite the \u2060headquarters of the central bank on Friday, chanting \u201cWe want our money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who have been unable to access their accounts include pensioners who receive state benefits through ueno.<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a earlier this week approved legislation to help accelerate payments \u200bto affected depositors, and some account holders began recovering their money on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Prospects for a lengthy political \u200btransition have drawn attention \u2060from investors, especially in neighbouring Brazil, Paraguay\u2019s largest economic partner.<\/p>\n

Regulators have sought to reassure markets by guaranteeing most deposits and containing risks to the wider financial system.<\/p>\n

A Brazilian government source told Reuters that Brazil\u2019s immediate concern was avoiding social instability in Paraguay and ensuring the banking crisis is resolved without triggering \u2060wider unrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtests \u200bover frozen savings will intensify if Pe\u00f1a\u2019s exit appears to grant him impunity or if \u200bpayouts to depositors and pensioners stall,\u201d said Mariano Machado, Americas principal analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pedro Alliana was sworn in as Paraguay\u2019s new president on Friday, just \u200bas authorities put his impeached predecessor, Santiago Pe\u00f1a, under house arrest, the latest developments in a fast-moving political and financial \u200ccrisis triggered by the collapse of a digital bank. Prosecutors speaking outside Pe\u00f1a\u2019s house in Asunci\u00f3n said charges were still being determined but could include influence peddling. Pe\u00f1a was ordered to appear at the prosecutor\u2019s office on Saturday morning. Pe\u00f1a was ousted from the presidency about an hour beforehand in a unanimous Senate vote, with lawmakers citing questions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}