Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies voted 48–30 against opening impeachment proceedings against Vice President Pedro Alliana. (Foto: Instagram)
Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies rejected an effort to begin impeachment proceedings against Vice President Pedro Alliana, a member of the Colorado Party. The vote was 48 against opening the case and 30 in favor.
The legislature had been considering whether to open impeachment proceedings against President Santiago Peña when he submitted a request to resign, halting the session. Peña’s request will now go to Paraguay’s Congress, where it requires a majority in both chambers to be approved or rejected.
Peña is accused of involvement in the financial crisis surrounding Banco Ueno, which was dissolved on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The bank’s dissolution left thousands of Paraguayans unable to access money in their accounts. Peña was a shareholder in the group that controlled the bank until last year.
The allegations against Alliana included accusations that he acted to provide legislative cover during the bank’s crisis, supported the allocation of pension funds and failed to act after warnings about loans to companies linked to the bank’s controllers. Alliana and Peña belong to the National Republican Association, commonly known as the Colorado Party. The party’s lawmakers had taken a position in favor of impeaching Peña.
