Three million Paraguayans woke up to a blank white screen on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, when the mobile application for Ueno Bank abruptly stopped displaying account balances and froze all digital transactions across the nation.
Central Bank Halts Operations After Solvency Ratio Collapses
At 3:24 a.m., the application deployed a single message to its users: No podemos mostrar el saldo
. Simultaneously, the Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP) announced that the institution was placed under tutelage after its solvency ratio fell to less than half of the threshold required by law. Liana Caballero, a member of the central bank board, confirmed during a press briefing that all operations were halted. Liana Caballero stated, We have proceeded to close the bank; neither the app, nor the cards, nor any service is active as of today,
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Ueno Bank, owned by the Grupo Vázquez, had experienced rapid growth over three years of existence, claiming roughly 3 million clients—representing nearly half of the population in a country of 6.5 million inhabitants, according to Journal du Coin. The lender managed approximately 850 million dollars in public funds, including roughly 380 million dollars belonging to the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS) pension fund. BCP President Carlos Carvallo stepped down at Peña’s request on the day the crisis broke, while prosecutors ordered the arrest of eight bank executives, including general manager Miguel Vázquez and bank president Juan Manuel Gustale.
Lawmakers Accuse President of Financial Ties Before Impeachment Vote
As angry depositors gathered outside closed bank branches and Parliament in Asunción, political pressure mounted against President Santiago Peña. Opposition lawmakers accused the president of having maintained financial ties to the holding company owning Ueno until selling his shares in March 2025. Senator Adrián Vaesken argued during the proceedings that the former president had subordinated public interest to private gains by having permitted, tolerated, and failed to correct a diversion of pension funds toward a bank linked to the presidential circle.
Facing a scheduled impeachment vote requested by 35 deputies, Peña announced his resignation in a video message on Thursday, November 5, stating he wanted to preserve democratic institutions. However, the Congress refused to accept his resignation, voting unanimously to proceed with a trial. On Friday, November 6, the 44 senators present voted unanimously to find the 47-year-old conservative leader guilty of improper exercise of his duties
. By rejecting his resignation and removing him via impeachment, the Senate stripped Peña of the lifetime Senate seat and parliamentary immunity normally granted to former presidents.
Ousted Paraguayan President Santiago Peña is under house arrest on suspicion of breach of trust. He was detained shortly after the Senate removed him from office following a bank collapse. https://t.co/EXWR8dAi2V
Prosecutors Place Ousted President Under House Arrest
Jessica Aquino, a 32-year-old employee, told AFP, Finally, finally Santiago Peña is gone, finally justice has been served!
She added, Now, we want him to give us our money back and end up in prison!
Hours after his removal, prosecutors placed Peña under house arrest.
Vice President Pedro Alliana, a 52-year-old veteran member of the ruling Colorado Party, was sworn in on Friday to complete the presidential term ending in August 2028. While the Chamber of Deputies rejected an opposition motion to impeach Alliana alongside Peña, the new president inherits an administration facing severe public discontent. In his inaugural address before the Senate, Pedro Alliana pledged assistance to affected citizens, stating that compatriots going through a very difficult situation because of the financial chaos will be fully compensated. We will not leave them alone
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Banking Collapse Chokes Domestic Commerce and Freezes Accounts
The banking collapse immediately choked domestic commerce, with the Association of Importers and Merchants reporting a 35 percent drop in sales across major retail stores as consumer funds remained locked. International shockwaves followed: in Argentina, one thousand employees of technological firm ITTI—part of the same corporate network as Ueno—faced 30-day salary suspensions, while the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) confirmed it held approximately 13 million dollars inside the failed bank.
To ease public distress, the Central Bank’s deposit guarantee fund initiated payouts on Thursday. The guarantee covers balances up to 228.3 million guaranis per depositor, and authorities began distributing advance funds to accounts. By Friday, advance payments had reached roughly 700,000 account holders.
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JUST IN – Paraguay President Santiago Peña resigns after Paraguay’s central bank seized a major digital bank with close ties to the President. pic.twitter.com/VqyZahIF6H