STORY: Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Asuncion home of former Paraguayan President Santiago Pena on Friday (November 6) after authorities placed him under house arrest following his impeachment amid a political and financial crisis triggered by the collapse of digital bank ueno.

Authorities said Pena would remain under house arrest while the public prosecutor's office determines the final charges against him.

Video showed police guarding Pena's residence and maintaining a security cordon as demonstrators beat drums, chanted slogans against the former president.

Some protesters advanced toward the police line and attempted to break through the cordon as officers stood their ground.

Among the demonstrators was Cinthia Vargas, a student and ueno client who said she lost her life savings in the bank's collapse. "I had my entire life's savings in ueno Bank; I'd been saving there for five years, and overnight I lost everything, I was left with nothing," Vargas said. "Five years of savings, five years of honest work."

Vargas blamed Pena and the Vazquez group — ueno's controlling shareholder — for the losses suffered by depositors and said many affected Paraguayans were struggling to meet basic needs. "Overnight, there are people going hungry, people who can't afford the bus fare, people who don't have enough to live on tomorrow," she said.

The bank's rapid expansion made it one of Paraguay's most visible financial success stories. But in recent months it came under regulatory scrutiny over alleged excessive lending to companies linked to the Vazquez group.

Questions had emerged over ueno's lending practices and its ties to Paraguay's political and financial elite — including Pena, who until last year was a shareholder in ueno's holding company, and the central bank chief Carlos Carvallo, who had headed ueno until 2023.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY (NOVEMBER 6, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. CROWD OUTSIDE HOME OF FORMER PARAGUAY PRESIDENT SANTIAGO PENA WHO IS UNDER HOUSE ARREST AFTER BANK COLLAPSE

2. VARIOUS OF POLICE GUARDING HOME OF PENA

3. POLICE CORDON FACING CROWD OF PROTESTERS

4. PROTESTERS PLAYING DRUMS

5. PROTESTERS CHANTING AGAINST PENA

6. PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNER READING (Spanish) "SANTI PENA, GET OUT OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD"

7. PROTESTERS SHOUTING

8. STUDENT CINTHIA VARGAS YELLING AT POLICE

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) STUDENT AND AFFECTED UENO BANK CLIENT, CINTHIA VARGAS, SAYING:

"I had my entire life’s savings in ueno Bank; I’d been saving there for five years, and overnight I lost everything, I was left with nothing. My life’s savings, months’ worth of my salary. I work day in and day out, Monday through Sunday, just to earn a paycheck, and for what? So that Santiago Pena and the Vazquez group could come and steal everything I’d built up over five years, so they could steal everything from us, absolutely everything. I lost everything. Five years of savings, five years of honest work. I never stole from anyone, never bothered anyone. What for? So that Santiago Pena and his whole gang of criminals could come and rob us."

10. PROTESTERS ADVANCING TOWARDS POLICE CORDON

11. CROWD TRYING TO BREAK THROUGH POLICE CORDON

12. CROWD CHANTING SLOGANS

13. VARGAS YELLING NEAR POLICE CORDON

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) STUDENT AND AFFECTED UENO BANK CLIENT, CINTHIA VARGAS, SAYING:

"Overnight, there are people going hungry, people who can’t afford the bus fare, people who don’t have enough to live on tomorrow. Why? Because of Santiago Pena and the entire Vazquez group. Why? Because they couldn’t control their greed; they couldn’t think of the Paraguayan people, who today don’t have enough to survive tomorrow."

15. PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS OUTSIDE PENA'S HOME

16. PROTESTERS OUTSIDE PENA'S HOME

17. SIGN AGAINST PENA POSTED OUTSIDE HIS HOME

18. SIGN READING (Spanish) "Nobody can claim victory until he gets jailed"