BREAKING: Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay, Resigns Amid Banking Crisis

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned this Thursday amid a banking crisis that froze the deposits of nearly three million savers, which had left him under threat of an imminent impeachment trial in Congress.

"I have made the decision to submit my resignation from the presidency of the Republic (...) I want to apologize to the people if at any moment I have failed them," Peña said in a video on his X account.

The president specified that his priority is "the peace of mind of the Paraguayans who trusted their savings to our financial system."

Peña, who took office in 2023 for a term until 2028, lost the support of the Colorado Party, whose leadership had announced this Thursday that it would support the motion for removal in Congress.

With Peña's resignation, the presidency is now in the hands of the current vice president, Pedro Alliana.

The crisis broke out on Tuesday, when the Central Bank of Paraguay intervened in Ueno Bank, one of the country's main banks, due to capital insufficiency. Nearly three million people were left without access to their deposits.

Peña held shares in a group that controlled the institution, from which he divested in 2025. The opposition accuses him of a conflict of interest and of favoring the bank.

The president secured the resignation of the head of the central bank and enacted a law that set a five-business-day deadline to return the majority of the funds, but the measures did not stop the outcry.

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated on Wednesday in Asunción for the second consecutive night and clashed with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.