Peña remains in preventive detention while Paraguay gives way to a new Government

Former President Santiago Peña was placed under preventive detention this Saturday, one day after his dismissal in a political trial for the closure due to solvency problems of Ueno bank in Paraguay, where the incoming Government of Pedro Alliana seeks to consider this “specific crisis” over.

The criminal judge of Guarantees of Economic Crimes Humberto Otazú ordered that Peña remain in the Presidential Guard Regiment, in Asunción, the capital of the country, where he was transferred on Friday, after he was declared guilty by the Senate of “poor performance of duties.”

The former president ended up affected by the Ueno debacle, which affected some 2.94 million clients, many of them ordinary citizens, but also public institutions that transferred millionaire funds during Peña’s administration to the closed financial institution.

Accusation

The Public Ministry formally charged Peña with alleged breach of trust, as instigator, and for self-serving administration, as author, after he appeared to testify in a proceeding that had to be transferred to the Attorney General’s Office to guarantee the safety of the former president.

Both crimes “in their aggravated form” can be punished with up to 10 years in prison, said the prosecutor of the Specialized Unit for Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption Christian Benítez in a press conference.

Peña arrived dressed in white pants and a shirt and accompanied by a small group of bodyguards, while journalists and some affected people waited for him to enter the investigative entity.

The tax accusation indicates that the former president “would have intervened in circumstances related to the placement, renewal and permanence of significant sums of money from public and pension entities” in that bank.

In addition, “he would have maintained a previous economic and corporate relationship” with Ueno Holding, a business group that includes the terminated financial entity.

Specifically, the document details, he had shares in Uneo Holding, which represented 1.58% of the capital of that company, a certificate of savings deposits in Ueno and a bond in the Itti firm, all of these companies of the Vázquez Group.

In March 2025, already in power, he sold his stake in the conglomerate, according to the accusation of the deputies who promoted the impeachment against him.

For this reason, Judge Otazú argued, after a hearing to impose measures, that Peña “must be under the figure of preventive detention to guarantee his submission to this procedure.”

New Government

And while Peña remains detained, Alliana, who was his vice president, went first thing in the morning to the López Palace, the headquarters of the Executive in Asunción, to start his day with meetings with ministers and address priority issues such as health, in particular the provision of medicines, and care for those affected by Ueno, when the return of savings to an account in the Deposit Guarantee Fund began.

In a press conference, the interim head of the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP), Pedro Acosta, estimated at 1,196,000 “people who have already benefited from the payment of the state guarantee” with transfers that, he assured, amount to 996,000 million guaraníes or the “equivalent of 160 million dollars.”

The figures correspond to two days of disbursements, which began on Thursday. To speed up the opening of new accounts, different banks opened their doors this Saturday to serve those affected by Ueno.

The new vice president, Antonio Barrios, also anticipated, in dialogue with ABC Cardinal radio, that the new Executive will resort to “allied” countries, which he did not identify, to track and “know where the money” handled by Ueno is.

Alliana also made progress in the formation of its team of ministers, which includes the head of the Interior, Ariel Martínez, and the head of the Civil Cabinet, Rolando de Barros.

The incoming Government, said in a message released by the Foreign Ministry, to have emerged “strengthened from this specific crisis”, and highlighted that “the institutional response” demonstrates that in the country “the rule of law governs.”

But, also, in a message through X, Alliana expressed to the United States her commitment to “continue strengthening” the strategic alliance between both countries. EFE