Former Paraguayan president Santiago Peña was arrested in Asuncion on November 6 following his impeachment over the collapse of Ueno Bank, local media reported.
Judicial authorities ordered the former leader's detention in connection with the criminal case surrounding the financial institution, according to Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color. Police officers took Peña into custody on the evening of November 6 at his private residence in the capital.
The arrest took place at the same moment that official protocol ceremonies were underway at the National Congress in Asuncion. Inside the legislative chamber, Pedro Alliana was sworn in and officially assumed office as head of the executive branch.
Investigators moved against Peña after the failure of Ueno Bank led to the frozen accounts of roughly three million customers across Paraguay, ABC Color reported.
Ueno Bank crisis
The collapse of the bank had previously affected around one million Paraguayan citizens, representing approximately 15 percent of the country's population. That disruption quickly broadened beyond the banking sector, transforming an economic crisis into a political emergency that culminated in parliament voting to impeach Peña.
Ueno Bank had operated as a major financial institution in Paraguay, offering consumer accounts and digital banking services before its insolvency prompted state intervention and customer account freezes.
Peña, an economist by training, previously served on the board of directors of the Central Bank of Paraguay and worked at the International Monetary Fund before his appointment as national finance minister. He later won the presidency as the candidate of the governing Colorado Party.
Political transition in Asuncion
Alliana, a former president of the Chamber of Deputies who was elected vice president alongside Peña, immediately assumed executive power following the impeachment vote. Under the Paraguayan constitution, the vice president stands first in the line of presidential succession whenever a head of state is removed from office.
Paraguay is a landlocked South American republic bordered by Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia, with a population of more than six million people and its national government based in Asuncion.
