Paraguay President Santiago Pena faces impeachment after banking crisis sparks mass protests

Paraguayan President Santiago Pena will face an impeachment trial after a financial crisis that led the USallied leader to resign Thursday after a banking takeover blocked almost half the population from accessing their moneyCongress put Penas resignation on hold while the impeachment process move forwards which means he will remain in office provisionallyThe Central Banks seizure of Penalinked Ueno Bank two days earlier froze the deposits of some three million people including pensioners and sparked angry demonstrations across the countryThousands of Paraguayans gathered outside Congress on Thursday to protest against the president who is still technically in power as his resignation awaits legislative approvalGive back the money AFP journalists heard them yelling Earlier demonstrations featured clashes with the police who used tear gas and water cannons on the crowdMy family ran out of money we dont have any cash Santi Pena is a criminal he has to go to jail 21yearold student protester Andres Maldonado told AFPLawmakers voted unanimously Thursday to launch impeachment proceedings against Pena over the crisis alleging misconduct and a conflict of interest in dealings with the bank to which he is tiedThe rightwing president said he would attend his impeachment trial which is set to begin Friday after earlier apologizing to the people of ParaguayIt was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me he said in a video posted on X announcing his resignationPenas priority he added is the peace of mind of Paraguayans who entrusted their savings to our financial systemPenas Interior Minister Enrique Riera also resigned from his post Thursday according to a decree published in local media with Carlos Benitez appointed to replace him in the interimNowhere to liveParaguays Central Bank said it took over Ueno due to a severe capital shortfall in order to protect depositors and preserve the stability of the financial systemUeno approved a loan for us to buy our first house But the funds were never disbursed and now we have nowhere to live 26yearold Nadia Gonzalez a mother of three told AFPLong lines of people trying to withdraw their money from Ueno branches snaked down Asuncions streets on Tuesday and WednesdayPena owned shares in a group that controlled the bank but he sold them last yearHe had attempted to ease tensions by requesting the resignation of Central Bank president Carlos Carvallo who consented and setting a fiveday limit for the return of funds Neither measure proved sufficientCongress called an extraordinary session of both chambers Thursday to decide whether to accept Penas resignation or reject it and proceed with the impeachment processBut the session failed to reach a quorum so the vote did not go aheadA later extraordinary session scheduled the impeachment trial to begin on Friday morningA criminal scheme has been set up here that has dedicated itself to draining a bank under the protection of institutions he controlled as president of the republic opposition lawmaker Raul Benitez statedThe aim is to conclude the trial on Friday as a way to reassure the public ruling party Senator Derlis Maidana told reportersVice President Pedro Alliana is set to take over as leader of the South American nationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever