Paraguay Ousts Its President As His Daughter's "Tax The Poor" Shirt Goes Viral

Nov 06, 2026 ·
Paraguay Ousts Its President As His Daughter's "Tax The Poor" Shirt Goes Viral

Paraguay's Senate voted unanimously on Friday to remove President Santiago Peña over the collapse of Ueno Bank, a day after a photo of his 20-year-old daughter in a "Tax the Poor" T-shirt spread across X.

Paraguayan President Santiago Pena announces his resignation following the collapse of a prominent digital lender to which he had former business links, putting him under intense pressure as nearly half the population was left without access to their bank accounts, in this screen grab taken from a video posted on social media. Social Media/Handout via REUTERS

All 44 senators present convicted Peña of misconduct in office, the AP reported. The verdict bars him from the lifetime Senate seat Paraguay's constitution gives former presidents, along with the immunity that comes with it. He had offered to resign Thursday, and opposition senators argued that accepting the resignation would have kept him eligible for the seat. Congress never voted on it.

Regulators seized Ueno, a digital lender with nearly 3 million customers, before dawn Tuesday and froze their savings, as we reported. Lawmakers accused Peña of using his influence to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in public money into the bank while regulators overlooked risky lending to insiders. He denies wrongdoing.

The Photo

The photo is a mirror selfie of Costanza Peña in a white T-shirt printed with "T.T.P" and "Est. 1969" above the slogan, IBTimes UK reported. SDP Noticias reported that she posted it to her private Instagram account; neither outlet said when. It began circulating on X on Thursday, the day her father offered to resign. She has not responded publicly.

An Internship At A Vázquez Company

Costanza Peña studies financial economics and history at Columbia University, according to SDP Noticias. She interned from February to June 2024 at Itti Saeca, a state supplier whose main shareholder is Grupo Vázquez, the group that owns Ueno, ABC Color reported in January. Her father was still a business partner of Grupo Vázquez and Itti in Ueno Holding at the time, the paper said. SDP Noticias reported that the LinkedIn profile listing the internship has since been deleted.

The same ABC Color report ran her photos from a yacht in Cabo San Lucas at the end of 2025 alongside Peña's advice that people choose public education to save money. Prosecutors searched Itti's offices on Thursday as part of the Ueno investigation, ABC Color reported. She has not been accused of wrongdoing.

The impeachment case cited Peña's stake in Ueno's holding company, which he sold last year, and his appointment of a former Ueno executive to run the central bank, along with public pension deposits at the bank above legal limits, according to the AP. Ueno has said Peña was never a shareholder in the bank itself.

The Trial He Skipped

Peña announced his resignation Thursday in a video on X, telling Paraguayans, "It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me" (translated). Minutes later, the Chamber of Deputies voted 78-0 to impeach him.

He then did not show up for his Senate trial Friday morning, hours after posting on X that he would appear and defend himself. His lawyers, Ricardo Preda and Adolfo Ferreiro, arrived after the session started and argued he had not been given time to prepare, the AP reported. Senators had voted 39-3 to reject his request for another 72 hours.

Peña wrote on X that he was served at 10:15 p.m. Thursday with the charges and about 300 pages of annexes, and was expected to answer in under 12 hours. "That is not due process," he wrote (translated). Ferreiro said the defense may challenge the proceedings at Paraguay's Supreme Court and before international human rights bodies.

Interior Minister Enrique Riera resigned late Thursday, and chief of staff Javier Giménez and legal adviser Roberto Moreno quit Friday. Former President Horacio Cartes, Peña's political mentor, publicly backed his removal.

Opposition Senator Yolanda Paredes said, "He must go, but not home. He must go to a maximum-security prison" (translated).

After the vote, Peña posted a farewell on X, saying he had resigned "to avoid more harm to the country" and did not want his presence to be "a cause of greater division or instability" (translated).

Vice President Pedro Alliana, who survived his own impeachment vote Thursday, is next in line and would serve through August 2028. Prosecutors opened three criminal investigations Thursday, including complaints against both Peña and Alliana.

Depositors Still Waiting

Some depositors began getting money back Thursday, starting with balances up to 10 million guaraníes, about $1,600, the AP reported. The central bank's guarantee runs to about $37,000 per depositor, which it says covers nearly all customers. Accounts at Ueno itself remain frozen, with customers unable to withdraw cash, make digital payments or use their cards.

A demonstrator holds a mock U.S. dollar bill depicting Paraguayan President Santiago Peña during a protest against the government and Ueno Bank, which Paraguay's central bank seized amid a solvency crisis, in Asunción, Paraguay, Wednesday.Jorge Saenz/AP 

The bank took in more than $800 million in public money, including about $380 million from IPS, the state social security fund. Prosecutors have charged 27 people, including Ueno's former chief executive and controlling shareholder, Miguel Vázquez, with crimes including breach of trust and attempted fraud. Six bank directors are in pretrial detention, and police towed nine luxury vehicles from Vázquez's home early Friday.

Tyler Durden