Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Sunday, Paraguay’s Public Ministry began a search of the property belonging to former President Santiago Peña in the Ciervo Cuá area of San Bernardino. Prosecutors Silvia González, Christian Benítez, and Elena Fiore led the operation as part of an investigation into alleged criminal acts linked to the Ueno Bank case.Paraguayan reports said investigators found a concealed vault behind a false wall inside the luxury property. The search continued on Monday as authorities tried to open its second door. Paraguayan local outlets quoted prosecutor Benítez. He stated that earlier efforts had breached only the first security door, and investigators were considering technical options, including a controlled detonation.Últimas Noticias reported that prosecutors were considering whether a family member could provide biometric access. Benítez said Peña himself would not be brought to the property at that stage while family cooperation was being considered. RT reported that the vault uses an Israeli-made, level 7 security system involving facial or iris recognition, fingerprint identification, a PIN, and multilock keys.Prosecutors were considering whether the structure could have served as a panic room and that a controlled detonation could risk damaging or collapsing parts of the building.Peña had already been arrested after the Senate removed him from office on Friday, November 6. He appeared before prosecutors the following day to issue a statement, according to the Attorney General’s Office.Orinoco Tribune reported that the arrest order also named Peña’s appointed former Central Bank chief Carlos Carvallo Spalding, who previously headed Financiera Ueno, closely linked to the Central Bank. Peña was initially placed under house arrest before police transferred him to the Presidential Escort Regiment headquarters amid protests by depositors and other demonstrators.The Ueno Bank crisis and political continuityThe search follows the collapse of Ueno Bank, which had nearly three million customers. On November 3, Paraguay’s Central Bank intervened after the bank’s solvency ratio fell below half the legally required minimum, according to the regulator’s report. The crisis put public funds at risk, including about US $355 million held by the Social Security Institute (IPS), Paraguay’s state pension and health funds.Peña held shares in Grupo Vázquez, Ueno’s parent company, until March 2025 while serving as president. He also appointed a former head of Ueno Bank as Central Bank chief of the nation. These relationships formed part of the impeachment case surrounding the bank’s collapse.After Peña’s removal, Vice President Pedro Alliana assumed the presidency. Alliana has also been named in investigations related to Ueno Bank. Peña and Alliana’s Colorada party participated in the Stroessner dictatorship (1954-1989) and has dominated Paraguayan politics for 80 years.On November 7, Alliana reported that the government had disbursed more than 996 billion guaraníes, equivalent to about US $160 million, to secure the return of deposits in 1,196,000 bank accounts affected by the insolvency. A Colorado Party legislator, Hugo Meza, voted to remove Peña while opposing impeachment proceedings against Alliana.Taken together, analysts claim that these developments point to continuity within Paraguay’s oligarchic order: Peña’s removal shifted the presidency to another Colorado Party figure, while the financial and political networks surrounding Ueno remain central to the investigation. It was reported that Ueno was a major sponsor of a 2026 conservative gala at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, placing the bank within US far-right business and political circles including the far-right jailed top-level advisor Fernando Cerimedo.At a press conference held by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) on Monday, November 9, general secretary Diosdado Cabello claimed that after Peña’s recent visit to Venezuela, the now former president resumed criticizing the country after Caracas declined to forgive Paraguay’s oil debt with Venezuela, which stands at approximately US $300 million.Orinoco Tribune reported that the visit produced a framework for renewed cooperation, while Paraguay’s PDVSA debt remained unresolved.Depositors, pensioners, and workers, meanwhile, are concerned about the control of public wealth and the burden of financial failure. The transfer of the presidency within the Colorado Party, the state-backed and heavily criticized deficient return of deposits, Peña’s reported business ties to Ueno’s parent group, and the unresolved investigation, according to analysts, are all signs of an oligarchic structure that has survived the change in officeholder.An anti-imperialist and socialist response to the crisis in Paraguay must center restitution, public oversight, and accountability across the bank, regulators, and political networks so that the burden of the crisis does not fall on ordinary people. Special for Orinoco Tribune by staffOT/JRE/SL