00:02We have breaking news at this hour. President Santiago Peña from Paraguay has requested
00:08his, presented his resignation before the Republic of Paraguay facing serious, serious accusations
00:15of corruption and this is a new political instability being faced by the Paraguayan
00:22people at this hour. President Santiago Peña, as we have been informing, has presented his
00:29resignation through a video that has been published in his official ex-account. In this presentation
00:40he presented his resignation to the people saying that it is in the utmost thinking and
00:47of the well-being of the Paraguayan people. Why is this political crisis being triggered
00:54precisely at this moment? It is important to inform that the immediate trigger was the
01:00intervention and subsequent resolution proceedings against Ueno Bank, which is one of Paraguay's
01:08largest digital financial institutions. Let me give you a wider explanation. On November 3rd,
01:16just two days ago Paraguay Central Bank intervened in Ueno Bank after its financial solvency ratio fell
01:25below the legal minimum. The bank has approximately three million customers, nearly half of Paraguay's
01:32population. It manages approximately US$850 million in public funds, including money linked to pension and
01:42social security institutions. Customers were left unable to access their accounts, triggering protests, anger
01:51and demands for accountability in the past few days. The crisis also has raised questions about regulatory
02:00oversight, possible conflicts of interest and the protection of public and private funds. All of this
02:10has triggered at this hour this political instability on the country. Let's recall that the President of
02:19the Republic, Santiago Pena, has shared his resignation through a video that was published in his official
02:29ex-account at this hour that we are going to have it for sure to release it in order for
02:37you to listen to his
02:38very own words. So this is happening in the midst of many questions about regulatory oversight, about
02:47possible conflicts of interest, about as well the protection of public and private funds. Why is Santiago Pena
02:56implicated? Well, the controversy is very serious because of previous Pena's business relationships with
03:05with a group that was holding, that was the holding company that controls Ueno Bank and that is the
03:13Grupo Vasquez. Pena was a business partner and shareholder in this group until March 2025. Central Bank
03:23President Carlos Carvalho, as well, previously headed Ueno before taking over the country's monetary
03:31authority. So it is a deeper and yet complicated as well situation that involves money, that involves
03:41great corporations, that involves as well the money of the people that have been the most impacted by
03:48this controversy. Pena requested Carvalho's resignation on November 3rd as the crisis intensified. However,
03:58people remain on the streets demanding accountability and this has led us well for this decision today with
04:07President himself presenting his resignation via a video on social media. This also has been mobilising
04:18many people who oppose this government and requesting and accusing President of conflicts of interest,
04:25political responsibility, of failures as well in institutional oversight. These are allegations
04:35that are going as well to be investigated. However, this is the most impactful news that are coming from
04:43Latin America at this hour and that is the resignation of President Santiago Pena regarding the situation that
04:52that involves a large and yet also complicated network of corruption that involves a very complex,
05:02that also holds a very crucial institution that has to do with the money of the people and also with,
05:11that is also going to affect the pensioners of the country. This is taking place at this crucial
05:18hour. He is going as well to be investigated by the justice authorities of the country so he has been
05:28at
05:28this hour, he has been announcing to the people his resignation. This is unfolding at this very minute,
05:37this is breaking news at this hour and as we have been informing President Santiago Pena has resigned from office
05:51and this is also a very complex circumstance for the political life of the country and it has to do
06:02just a few minutes after his decision,
06:06his renunciation, his renunciation. There are people on the streets that are going to be taking part in the reactions
06:15and because this is going as well to unleash a crisis that has to do with the intervention of the
06:24Ueno Bank, which is an institution that is linked to his old commercial partners.
06:32And this decision came as well after the opposition requested a political trial against President Pena and the President of
06:43the Congress as well, Basilio Nunez, who claimed publicly as well and urged the President to leave his post.
06:54Nunez warned as well that if Pena were to remain in the presidency, he will lead and unleash as well
07:04a process against him. Those were the statements of the President of Congress, Basilio Nunez, I do this with absolute
07:13respect to our constitution, national constitution and to the mechanisms and institutions and democratic institutions.
07:26What happened with Ueno Bank is that the Central Bank of Paraguay opened a resolution on Ueno and this has
07:36been having repercussions as well. Let's listen to statements.
07:42I speak to you in one of the most difficult moments. I speak to you in one of the most
07:45difficult moments of my life with the conviction that our Republic always must be above every person or circumstance.
07:58The history will put in its right place the situations that we have had to live. I took the decision
08:04to present my resignation to the presidency of the Republic and I do this thinking in the balance of our
08:13country to preserve democratic institutions.
08:15I do this with absolute respect to our national constitution and to our democratic mechanisms that we have had as
08:24a nation. I am convinced that no charge can be above the well-being of Paraguay and I also want
08:31to ask for my forgiveness to the people if I fail.
08:34It was never my intention. It was never my intention to harm the trust that you put in me. I
08:42have taken this responsibility with the willingness of working for the people but today my aim is the tranquility of
08:51Paraguayan people that trusted their savings in our institutions.
08:56And my best wishes and my best wishes is that the devolution of these resources be guaranteed, that the fund
09:05of guarantees be fulfilled its duty and put in place the resources of Paraguayan people.
09:13My dear compatriots, we are a country that have gone through many difficult times. I trust deeply in the strength
09:23of our people and in the capacity of our institutions to
09:26to overcome this situation. Today we must show once more that democracy is to be respected, that the institutions are
09:35to be cared for and the country is above our differences.
09:40No charge, no obligation is more important than the stability of the Republic and no one is above Paraguay.
09:47I thank the trust for every moment we lift and for giving me the honour of serving this country. May
09:56God bless the Paraguay.
09:59So those were the statements released by President Santiago Peña while announcing to the people the resignation, his resignation in
10:10the face of the controversy with UNO Bank and the repercussions that he's having on the people of Paraguay.
10:18And that is why, and that is why he decided to make this announcement, he said, the most difficult decision
10:25of my life. But I do this, he said, with the conviction of preserving the interest of the country above
10:35my own interests because no one is above the Paraguay.
10:38Paraguay, Paraguay, he said, must be a country that needs to be preserved, needs to be protected. And he also
10:48made this, made the urge, the urgent call for the resources of the Paraguayan people who have been affected in
10:58these circumstances to be returned to their, to their, to their property, he said.
11:04He presented.
