Paraguayan President Santiago Pena resigned on Thursday following the collapse of digital lender ueno, which left millions of customers unable to access their accounts. Vice President Pedro Alliana will take office as his replacement.
Pena announced his decision in a video address, citing "the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions." The resignation came as opposition lawmakers called for an extraordinary congressional session to begin impeachment proceedings, members of his own conservative party withdrew support, and protesters demanded his removal.
Lawmakers accused Pena of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups related to the bank's collapse. Al Jazeera's Latin America editor Lucia Newman said Pena faced accusations of "negligence at the very least and complicity in covering up the fact that the bank was insolvent."
Ueno had grown from a niche fintech player into a mid-tier bank administering close to $850 million in public funds before Paraguay's central bank intervened after determining it breached minimum solvency requirements. The collapse affected roughly 3 million customers in a country of 6.5 million people.
Some protesters outside Congress urged lawmakers to reject the resignation, stating they want Pena tried and impeached rather than allowed to simply step down.
Pena is an ally of US President Donald Trump. Ueno has made no public statement about the collapse.