Paraguay’s ousted president faces prosecutors after his removal over bank collapse

Paraguay’s former president Santiago Peña appeared before prosecutors on Saturday, hours after Congress removed him over his alleged links to the collapse of Ueno Bank. The investigation and bank failure have triggered the country’s biggest political crisis in more than a decade, amid public anger over frozen savings and demands for accountability.

Prosecutors ordered Peña’s arrest and that of former Central Bank chief Carlos Carvallo over alleged breach of trust and other offences; Peña denies wrongdoing. Regulators seized Ueno Bank three days earlier, blocking nearly three million customers from their accounts, while the Central Bank said 1.2 million had received partial or full reimbursement of insured deposits. Vice-President Pedro Alliana replaced Peña, and a national teachers’ strike is planned for Monday over concerns about public pension funds.