Paraguay's pro-Israel former president taken into custody over banking crisis

Paraguayan prosecutors charged pro-Israel ex-president Santiago Pena and took him into custody Saturday over a banking crisis that saw millions cut off from their money and sparked major protests.

Pena, Paraguay's youngest-ever president, was removed from office by the Senate on Friday, just three days after the collapse of a leading bank with which he had business links.

An indictment against Pena states that "between 2023 and 2026, UENO BANK S.A. allegedly received deposits and loans from public and pension entities" and that it "was also allegedly granting loans to companies linked to the bank's economic group in an irregular manner."