Santiago Peña ousted, Pedro Alliana succeeds him as president of Paraguay

Pedro Alliana, 52, has been leading Paraguay since Friday, November 6. He replaces Santiago Peña, who was removed following the collapse of Ueno Bank. Peña is scheduled to answer questions from the prosecutor's office on Saturday.

The Senate found Peña guilty of misconduct in office by a vote of 44 to zero, with one lawmaker absent. The vote as unanimous. Alliana was sworn in before Congress. He had been vice president since August 2023 and is set to serve until August 15, 2028, the end of the current term.

A promise to savers

, he also thanked his party and reaffirmed his loyalty to its doctrine.

Peña faces the prosecutor

Peña was placed under house arrest about an hour after his removal. Late at night, he was taken to a military facility for security reasons. Prosecutor Silvia Margarita González Vester indicated that he would be questioned at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday regarding alleged crimes: breach of trust, influence peddling, and mismanagement for personal gain.

Peña had submitted his resignation on Thursday, but Parliament rejected it. According to press reports, the former president denies the accusations.

Frozen deposits

The Central Bank placed Ueno Bank under administration on Tuesday due to insolvency. The deposits of nearly three million people have been frozen. On Thursday, it began reimbursing small depositors, those with holdings ranging from 1 to 10 million guaranies. José Maciel, of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, did not provide any overall figures. A lawyer for Peña claimed that 700,000 people had been paid by Friday.

The new president's background

Alliana was born on February 19, 1974, in Pilar, in the department of Ñeembucú, where he served as governor from 2008 to 2013. He then served as a deputy for two consecutive terms. He also chaired the Partido Colorado from 2015 to 2023. According to early reports, he is a long-time conservative within the party. He was Peña's vice president for three years.

Both media outlets describe him as close to former president Horacio Cartes. Cartes paid for his leukemia treatment at the Sirio-Libanés hospital in 2019.