PARAGUAY PRESIDENT SANTIAGO PEÑA RESIGNS AFTER BANK COLLAPSE

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned on Thursday, days after the collapse of Ueno Bank left about three million customers unable to access their accounts. In a recorded address, he said he was stepping down "with the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions in mind." The opposition had called an extraordinary session of Congress to begin impeachment proceedings, and he lost backing from his own conservative party. Vice President Pedro Alliana is set to replace him. Protesters had demanded his resignation outside Ueno's headquarters in Asunción.

Ueno's app stopped displaying customer balances on Tuesday, prompting Paraguay's central bank to take over the bank and begin liquidation after its solvency ratio fell below 50%. The bank had grown in three years into a mid-tier lender holding close to $850 million in public funds, including Social Security Institute pensions and healthcare money. Lawmakers accused Peña of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups linked to the collapse. Latin America editor Lucia Newman said Peña "is accused of negligence at the very least and complicity in covering up the fact that the bank was insolvent."

Crowds have gathered outside Ueno's branches nationwide, with some customers saying they could not withdraw money for medicine or food. Demonstrators carried placards asking who would answer for a lifetime of savings and whether there would be impunity. Newman said Congress was attempting to impeach both Peña and the vice president, with people outside urging lawmakers to reject his resignation and have him tried instead. Peña, an ally of US President Donald Trump, said he wanted the deposit guarantee fund to "fulfil its purpose" and public funds protected.