Pedro Alliana Named New President of Paraguay

Pedro Alliana was sworn in as Paraguay’s president on Friday following the rapid impeachment of Santiago Peña, stepping into the nation’s top office after a three-day financial crisis sparked by the sudden collapse of Ueno Bank.

The 52-year-old former national basketball player, businessman, and ruling party insider now inherits a country grappling with severe political and economic instability, sparked by the sudden collapse of Ueno Bank earlier in the week—a financial failure that froze savings for half of Paraguay’s adult population.

Upon taking his oath, Alliana pledged to resolve the banking collapse before his term concludes in August 2028.

Alliana’s rapid ascent crowns a long career inside the dominant Colorado Party, shaped by both political mentorship and profound personal adversity.

Born in Pilar on February 19, 1974, to parents who served as local councillors, Alliana represented Paraguay’s national basketball team in 1991 before entering public office.

Personal tragedy struck in 2003 when kidnappers murdered his 24-year-old brother, Rodolfo, to fund a cigarette smuggling operation.

Years later, Alliana battled leukaemia twice, undergoing treatment in Brazil in 2018 and additional chemotherapy in 2021 before overcoming the illness.

His political trajectory accelerated under former President Horacio Cartes, a powerful faction leader who steered Alliana from governor of Ñeembucú to president of the Chamber of Deputies and head of the Colorado Party.

Though Cartes selected him as Peña’s running mate in 2021, Alliana recently asserted his independence, declaring that political loyalty should not mean “blind obedience.”

When lawmakers moved to impeach Peña over the financial crisis, they chose to drop proceedings against Alliana, propelling the vice president into the country’s top executive post.