Paraguayan Senate examines impeachment of Santiago Peña

The Paraguayan Senate began on Thursday the analysis of the impeachment request against President Santiago Peña. The extraordinary session was called by the president of the House, Basilio Bachi Núñez, after the analysis of Peña’s resignation was postponed for lack of quorum. The Chief Executive will be heard by the plenary on Friday, 6, at 10 am, when he will present his defense.

The decision comes amid a political and financial crisis that shakes the neighboring country. On Tuesday, Paraguay’s Banco Central intervened in Ueno Bank for insufficient capital, triggering protests and demands to remove the president.

Members ask for full admission of the complaint

During the session, the deputies designated as prosecutors formally requested the admission and full acceptance of the complaint against President Santiago Peña, according to the Paraguayan portal ABC. The request was submitted after the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved the opening of the impeachment process.

In the same session of the House, the parliamentarians also approved, by 48 votes to 30, a request to open impeachment proceedings against the vice president, Pedro Alliana. However, the case against Alliana was later rejected.

Peña announces resignation, but House does not accept

In the early afternoon of Thursday, Peña announced his resignation in a video posted on social networks. Despite the announcement, opposition lawmakers have signaled that they will not accept Peña’s resignation.

"We do not accept the resignation of Santiago Peña. The impeachment process against him and Vice President Alliana must be carried out," Senator Esperanza Martínez of the Citizen Participation Party said in a social media post.

Senate delays review due to lack of quorum

After the resignation, the Senate opened a session to vote on Peña's resignation request, but postponed due to lack of quorum after the Allied base maneuver. In the face of the impasse, the president of the Senate, Basilio Bachi Núñez, called the House for an extraordinary session on Thursday night.

Bachi Núñez then closed the day’s impeachment proceedings and officially called an extraordinary session of the Senate for Friday, 6, at 10 am, when Santiago Peña will appear before the plenary to present his defense.

The president says he will exercise the right of defense

Minutes earlier, the Paraguayan president returned to social media and said he would submit to the impeachment process and exercise his right of defense before Congress.

"In the face of the continuity of the impeachment process, I will appear and exercise my right to defense. I will do so with arguments and evidence, in respect of the Constitution and the institutions of the Republic,” the president wrote on social network X.

Crowds protest in front of Congress

Outside the Congresso Nacional, a crowd gathered to protest and follow the events of the extraordinary session. Through loudspeakers, cell phone broadcasts and portable radios, citizens affected by the Ueno Bank crisis and union members followed the prosecutors’ presentations live.

The political and financial crisis that hits the South American country began on Tuesday, after Paraguay’s Banco Central (BCP) decided to intervene in Ueno Bank due to insufficient capital.

Peña's connections with Ueno Bank

Before the trial, Peña had ties to Ueno. In April last year, the president admitted that he had investments in Ueno Holding, a company linked to the Vázquez Group, Ueno’s controller.

The ABC stated that, before it disposed of the shares, Peña had a 6.144 billion guarani (about R$ 5.51 million in the current quote) in shareholding.

The outcome of the impeachment process should move Paraguayan policy in the coming days. The session on Friday will be decisive for the future of President Santiago Peña and for the institutional stability of the country. Follow the updates on the Boca no Trombone.

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