Almost three million Paraguayans were left without access to their accounts after the intervention of Ueno Bank, which ended with the dismissal and preventive detention of the now former president Santiago Peña. The State has already returned the deposits to 1.2 million clients, but the rest do not know what will happen to their money. Although the new president, Pedro Alliana, promised that he will compensate all those affected, the protests against the entire political class are growing in the streets.

First modification: 08/11/2026 - 01:07

Giovanni cries inconsolably. He grabs his head. He had quit his job after 16 years to start a business with his wife. They deposited about $16,000 in Ueno Bank and today they don't know if they will be able to get it back.

The scene takes place in the Attorney General's Office of Paraguay, in Asunción. Giovanni is one of the almost three million clients affected by the bank's collapse, a case linked to Santiago Peña, who until this Friday was the president of Paraguay - on November 6 he was dismissed - and has now been charged and is under preventive detention.

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A president dismissed and detained

The debacle broke out on Tuesday, November 3, when the Central Bank of Paraguay intervened in Ueno Bank due to solvency problems. Two days later, Peña submitted his resignation to avoid impeachment (which would remove his immunity), but Congress did not accept it and on Friday the Senate removed him from office.

Peña was arrested that same day, charged with "injury of trust and administration for personal gain." His successor, Pedro Alliana (Peña's former vice president), promised that those affected will be “fully compensated,” with priority given to the most vulnerable sectors.

According to the Central Bank, some 2.94 million savers, 60% of the adult population, were left without access to their accounts.

Since November 5, the State began to return deposits through the Deposit Guarantee Fund and as of this Saturday some 1.2 million clients had recovered their money. For the rest, there are still no clear dates.

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“We are with nothing, waiting”

On the streets of Asunción, a young mother sums up the anger of many:

"There is so much injustice, so much theft. This cannot remain like this. Santiago Peña harmed many Paraguayans, families, businessmen, micro-entrepreneurs... Even my son, who had his small savings in Ueno Bank. We are with nothing, waiting. They said three days, but for now nothing is happening."

"It's a very big loss. I didn't expect this from Peña," says another woman.

"They don't even have to buy food"

Antonella is Venezuelan and had the money deposited in Ueno for the next 15 days: food, rent and the remittance she sends to her parents in Venezuela. "Fortunately, just the night before I had paid the rent and electricity. The rest of the money was trapped a few hours later," he tells France 24.

She found out about the situation as soon as she woke up, from a message from her husband. Since then he followed in detail everything that the Central Bank communicated. He expected to get his money back in two weeks, but on Thursday night it was credited to another account.

“I was one of the first and I'm lucky,” she says. But not everyone was as lucky: “I have close friends for whom it was their only account and today they can't even buy food, because all their money is still there.”

Football, another victim of the banking crisis

Sport has not been left out of this crisis.

The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), based in Luque, near Asunción, has about $13 million in the bank in a fixed-term savings deposit certificate, a source from the entity explained to AFP.

The figure represents 2.3% of the income of the governing body of South American football in 2025 and "does not affect the operation of Conmebol at all," the source added.

Read alsoThe fall of Ueno Bank shakes the Paraguayan financial system: Where did the money go?

Ueno Bank has also been sponsoring the Copa Sudamericana, organized by Conmebol, since mid-2024. The contract expires in December and will not be renewed, the source said.

"There is no major impact" on the tournament or the final of the competition, which Boca Juniors and Atlético Mineiro will play on November 21 in Barranquilla, he assured.

Local football sponsor

The situation is different for local soccer, given that Ueno Bank had extended its brand throughout the Paraguayan championship.

"There are many players affected," said the president of Futbolistas Asociados del Paraguay, Rogelio Delgado, to the Argentine newspaper Olé.

In a few years, the bank became a sponsor of several of the most important teams in the Paraguayan first division: Olimpia, Cerro Porteño, Guaraní, Sportivo Luqueño and Rubio Ñu.

His brand was even incorporated into the names of two emblematic stadiums: Defensores del Chaco, owned by the Paraguayan Football Association, and La Nueva Olla, in Cerro Porteño.

The national team's players also raised their voices, idolized since they took Paraguay to a World Cup after a 16-year absence.

"We were also victims of this situation. We share the same indignation, concern and pain that affects so many compatriots," they said in a statement published on the social networks of the captain, Gustavo Gómez.

"We firmly demand that the Government and justice act immediately, transparently and without distinction (...) it is not fair, nor will we allow, that due to the actions of a few unpresentable people the name and reputation of all of Paraguay be tarnished."

“Let them all go”

"Let them all go" was the cry that was repeated on Friday outside Congress while the impeachment trial against Peña was taking place. The protesters expressed their discontent with the entire management of the Colorado Party, the predominant force in Paraguayan politics.

"We are tired, Ueno was just a demonstration of the millions and millions of money taken from our pockets as citizens," one protester, Andrea Gutiérrez, told the EFE agency.

Read alsoTotal crisis in Paraguay: how Santiago Peña helped Ueno Bank grow?

For her part, Milda Cuevas, also speaking to EFE, demanded that Peña "be tried" and "go to jail," but lamented that "the coming government is more of the same."

Many protesters, especially young people, remained vigil after the impeachment. Cecilia Lugo, who considers that Peña and Alliana “are the same,” summed it up this way: “The people are still here until they all leave.”

With EFE, AFP and local media

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