Paraguay President's US-Based Daughter Posts Photo Wearing 'Tax the Poor' Shirt as Millions Lose Access to Savings

Costanza Peña, the US-based daughter of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, faces a backlash over a photo showing her in a T-shirt reading 'Tax the Poor'.

The image spread across X on Thursday (5 November), the day her father announced his resignation over the collapse of Ueno Bank. The central bank's seizure of the digital lender two days earlier locked more than 2.9 million customers out of their savings. Posts on X and TikTok said she shared it herself, though it is unclear when.

The slogan inverts 'Tax the Rich' and appears on novelty shirts sold online. Users called it insensitive, replying 'No tienen vergüenza' ('They have no shame'). She has not publicly responded.

How Costanza Peña Is Linked to the Company Behind Ueno Bank

The 20-year-old studies financial economics and history at Columbia University in New York, according to Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color.

In January, the paper said her social media showed parties and a yacht trip in Mexico. It also said she had listed a 2024 internship at Itti Saeca, a state supplier whose main shareholder is Grupo Vázquez, which owns Ueno. Prosecutors searched Itti's offices on Thursday in the Ueno inquiry, the paper reported. She has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Her father bought shares in 2019 in Credicentro, the company that later became Ueno Holding, and remained a partner of Grupo Vázquez until March 2025, 19 months into his presidency. Ueno says he was never a shareholder or investor in the bank.

Ueno Bank Collapse Leaves Savers Waiting on Capped Payouts

The central bank's board voted on 2 November to put Ueno into resolution after its solvency ratio fell below half the legal minimum. Regulators had warned it in June about excessive lending to companies tied to its owners.

On Tuesday, when the takeover was announced, central bank chief Carlos Carvallo, who ran Ueno until August 2023, resigned at Peña's request. Prosecutors ordered eight arrests, including Ueno chief executive Federico Miguel Vázquez Villasanti. Riot police fired pepper spray and rubber pellets at protesters in Asunción.

Payouts of up to 10 million guaraníes (£1,164/$1,565) began on Thursday. Notices for a larger advance of up to 121.76 million guaraníes (£14,170/$19,055) went out the same day, with transfers from Friday. The guarantee covers about 228 million guaraníes (£26,530/$35,680) per depositor. Above that, the central bank has promised only 'the greatest possible protection.'

Ueno also held about £632 million ($850 million) in public money, including roughly £283 million ($380 million) from state pension fund IPS.

Santiago Peña Faces Senate Trial Despite Quitting

Peña, a former International Monetary Fund economist, dismissed concerns about Ueno as a smear campaign as recently as October. In his resignation video, he said, 'I want to apologize to the people if I have failed them at any point.'

Minutes later, the Chamber of Deputies voted 78-0 to impeach him over alleged conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds, and institutional cover-ups. It rejected a motion against Vice President Pedro Alliana, who is next in line.

A joint session called to consider the resignation collapsed without a quorum, leaving Peña in office. Opposition senators had argued that letting him resign would keep him eligible for a lifetime Senate seat with legal protections.