Paraguayan President Peña faces impeachment trial as political crisis deepens

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) – Top aides to Paraguayan President Santiago Peña have resigned as the Senate resumed an impeachment trial Friday that could remove him from office, deepening a political crisis triggered by the collapse of a bank tied to his administration.

What happened

Senators rejected Peña's request for 72 more hours to respond to accusations stemming from the failure of Ueno Bank, a digital lender that counted almost half of Paraguay's population as customers. Its collapse this week froze the savings of millions of Paraguayans and upended a country long seen by investors as one of South America's most stable.

Interior Minister Enrique Riera resigned late Thursday, followed Friday by Peña's chief of staff, Javier Giménez, and his legal adviser, Roberto Moreno. This person quit just as the president prepared to defend himself before the Senate.

Peña remarked he had received the summons only hours before the session, along with concerning 300 pages of accusations and evidence, leaving him no time to hire a lawyer or review the case.

The bottom line

In short, paraguayan President Peña faces impeachment trial as political crisis deepens is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.