Paraguay's President Resigns, Congress Says No

Paraguay's President Santiago Peña said on Thursday that he was stepping down. This came after a political and financial crisis hit the country’s banking system.

But Congress did not accept his resignation. They are moving forward with impeachment steps against him.

Al Jazeera reported that the lower house voted 78-0 to impeach Mr Peña. The Senate has also started impeachment proceedings and called him to appear on Friday.

Mr Peña made his resignation announcement in a video on X. He said, "I want to apologise to the people if at any point I failed. It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me."

He explained that he resigned to help keep stability, social peace, and democratic institutions.

A joint session of Congress was held to discuss his resignation, but they did not accept it, according to Al Jazeera. Because of this, he is still president and will face impeachment.

Paraguay’s financial crisis began when Ueno Bank went into insolvency, which stopped all its operations. Ueno Bank is the biggest bank in the country and claims to serve about 60 percent of the population.

Ueno Bank started in the 1970s as a small finance company. It became a big bank after Grupo Vázquez, one of Paraguay’s largest business groups, bought it in 2021. Mr Peña was a shareholder in Grupo Vázquez until last year.

Last Monday, the central bank ordered Ueno to resolve its insolvency. This move froze the deposits of 3 million customers. The bank also held pensions and other public funds and collapsed earlier this week.

Many people could not get money for food and other daily needs. Bank executives were arrested, and citizens protested in big numbers.

Lawmakers and opposition groups have accused Mr Peña of wrongdoing, but he strongly denies these claims.

If his resignation had been accepted, he would have become a senator for life with some legal protection from prosecution. This is a right given to Paraguayan presidents after leaving office.

But this protection does not apply if a president is found guilty in an impeachment trial. Mr Peña has said he will attend the Senate impeachment proceedings to use his "right to a defence."

On X, he wrote, "I will provide the information requested of me. Citizens deserve to know the truth, without cover-ups and without anyone being above the law."