How a digital bank’s collapse toppled Paraguay’s president

People protest on the street near Congress, following former Paraguayan President Santiago Pena's removal from office in an impeachment trial that found him guilty of poor performance over his links to the collapse of digital lender Ueno, in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Thursday. | REUTERS

REUTERS

Nov 9, 2026

ASUNCION, PARAGUAY – For years, Paraguay’s digital bank, Ueno, stood out as a homegrown success story, luring roughly half the country’s people to open accounts and offering many the opportunity to hold a bank account for the very first time.

But over just five days last week, the bank collapsed, freezing the savings of nearly 3 million customers — in a country of 6.5 million people — and triggering the country’s deepest political crisis in more than a decade.

On Friday evening, Paraguayan President Santiago Pena was impeached after attempting to resign, and his vice president, Pedro Alliana, was sworn in as his replacement.

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