Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned on Thursday following the collapse of digital lender ueno that left millions of customers unable to access their accounts and triggered widespread protests and impeachment moves.
“I do so with the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions in mind,” Peña said in a video-recorded address.
The crisis erupted after Paraguay’s central bank intervened in ueno, determining that the institution had breached minimum solvency requirements. The lender, which had grown rapidly from a niche fintech into a mid-tier bank administering close to $850 million in public funds, served roughly three million customers in a country of 6.5 million people.
Lawmakers accused Peña of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups linked to the bank’s failure. He had previously held business ties to the institution. Earlier on Thursday, Peña lost backing from members of his own conservative party.
Vice President Pedro Alliana is set to succeed him. Opposition lawmakers had called an extraordinary congressional session to advance an impeachment motion, while protesters demanded his removal.
“My greatest wish is that the return of those funds be guaranteed, that the deposit guarantee fund fulfill its purpose, and that public funds – as well as the resources that belong to all Paraguayans – be protected,” Peña added in his address.
Ueno has made no public statement on the matter. Peña, an ally of US President Donald Trump, had faced intensifying pressure as the banking crisis deepened.
