Paraguay’s financial and political crisis erupts, the President is impeached and arrested, the Vice President takes over.

Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña was criticized on the 6th due to the collapse of a large bank close to the government.management committee Impeachment was passed unanimously. Prosecutors are investigating suspected fraud and other crimes in the collapse of Ueno Bank and have issued arrest warrants for Pena and former central bank Chairman Carlos Carvalho. Reuters, quoting local media ABC, has reported that Penia has been arrested.

The Associated Press reported that regulatory authorities took over Ueno Bank on the 3rd, leaving nearly 3 million customers unable to access their deposits and sparking a political crisis. Lawmakers allege that Pena used his political influence to direct millions of dollars of public money to Uno Bank, while regulators turned a blind eye to high-risk party loans.

Penia denied any wrongdoing. He submitted his resignation on the 5th, but the Congress did not accept it. Pena’s lawyers argued that Congress should accept his resignation rather than proceed with an impeachment trial. Opposition lawmakers pushed for impeachment to prevent Penha from leaving office with impunity. Opposesenator “He must step down, but not go home. He must be sent to a maximum-security prison. People have been given too much freedom,” Yolanda Paredes told reporters.

All 44 senators present that day voted in favor of impeachment on the grounds of Penia’s dereliction of duty during his tenure. Agence France-Presse reported that senators later nominated Vice President Pedro Eliana to take over as president. Immediately after the impeachment case was passed, the prosecutor issued an arrest warrant and asked the police to execute it. According to the order, Peña will be detained at his residence until he can be taken to the prosecution’s Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption Unit for questioning, while Cavallo will be detained at a police facility.

Impeachment also strips Peña of the lifetime Senate seat granted by Paraguay’s Constitution to outgoing presidents and the congressional immunity that comes with it. In addition to Pena, prosecutors are also targeting current and former central bank and pension fund officials, as well as Ariana, the president’s nominee to succeed him.

Shortly before the results of the vote were released on the 6th, Peña issued a farewell statement, hoping that his departure would save Paraguay from further loss. He wrote, “I do not want my presence to create more division or instability. My responsibility is to put the country before its own destiny.”

However, public anger is increasing day by day. Thousands of protesters clashed with police this week as they demand the return of deposits and accountability for the collapse of Uno Bank. Paraguay’s largest teachers union, with more than 40,000 members, plans to launch an indefinite nationwide strike on the 9th to demand protection of public retirement funds. “This is a huge betrayal of trust,” said Yinal Lopez, an employee of the state electric utility’s employees’ pension fund, whose funds are also deposited in Ueno Bank. “The president treats people like idiots. He takes their money, the people’s money, to do what he wants,” he said.