Paraguay resumes Pena impeachment proceedings as financial crisis deepens

Lawmakers in Paraguay have resumed impeachment proceedings against President Santiago Pena, a day after he resigned amid links to the country’s worst financial crisis in decades. The Senate convened a rare session on Friday to consider Pena’s political future, opting to move forward with efforts to remove the conservative economist from office. Politicians formally filed impeachment charges against the president on Thursday, despite his resignation.

Pena, who was elected in 2023, has requested a 72-hour extension to prepare his defence before the Senate. The proceedings follow a vote in Paraguay’s lower house of Congress, where lawmakers overwhelmingly approved impeachment charges against Pena in a 78-0 vote. The political turmoil surrounding the country’s president follows Paraguay’s central bank’s intervention earlier this week at Ueno Bank, one of the country’s fastest-growing digital lenders, citing breaches of minimum solvency requirements.

Pena previously held a stake in Ueno’s parent company, Grupo Vazquez, until last year, when he claims he sold his shares.