The Senate of Paraguay has decided this Friday to remove from office the president Santiago Peña through a political trial, a day after the head of state himself submitted his resignation, following a financial scandal linked to Ueno Bank.
The Upper House has backed the dismissal with an overwhelming majority of 44 votes out of 45 possible, which makes Peña the first head of state of the South American country to be removed from office with the unanimous support of both chambers of Congress.
With this decision, Peña also loses his status as an aforado as a lifelong senator and becomes the second president, after Fernando Lugo (2008-2012), to be removed from power through an 'impeachment' process.
The Senate resumed the political trial against Peña, who had requested a 72-hour delay, after the boycott by a group of legislators from his own Colorado Party, who on Thursday left the plenary session to prevent the session.
The president’s resignation is directly related to the collapse of Ueno Bank, a financial entity linked to Peña’s former business partners, which collapsed and was taken over by the Central Bank after its solvency fell below the minimum levels required, leaving it unable to guarantee the deposits of millions of clients.