The Paraguayan Communist Party (PCP), through its newspaper Adelante!, has sharply criticized the financial and political interests behind the Ueno Bank scandal, which has shaken Paraguay and engulfed the administration of President Santiago Peña.
The communists argue that the crisis exposes the contradictions of the country's dependent capitalist economy and the subordination of public resources to private financial interests.
In an analysis published on November 3, economist Alhelí González Cáceres examines the collapse of Ueno Bank following intervention by the Central Bank of Paraguay. She argues that the bank's rapid expansion was closely connected to the growing influence of speculative financial capital, a process intensified under former President Horacio Cartes and continued during Peña's administration.
Particular attention is given to the involvement of the Social Security Institute (IPS), whose investments in Ueno Bank reportedly reached approximately $345 million during the first half of 2026. These resources, the article stresses, represent workers' deferred wages, intended to finance pensions, healthcare and social protection rather than private financial accumulation.
The analysis also highlights the relationship between political and economic power, noting Peña's previous business connections with the conglomerate associated with Ueno Bank and raising questions about the independence of financial supervision.
Drawing on Marx's analysis of fictitious capital, González Cáceres argues that the crisis illustrates how financial expansion can generate expectations of future profits without a corresponding increase in productive wealth, ultimately exposing workers and public institutions to serious risks.
The article also points to trade unions and workers' organizations demanding the withdrawal of pension funds from the troubled bank and greater public control over social security resources.
In a subsequent report published on November 7, Adelante! highlighted the immediate consequences for workers employed by businesses linked to the banking crisis, including unpaid wages and uncertainty over jobs.
For the Paraguayan communist newspaper, the Ueno Bank affair demonstrates that the central question extends beyond the responsibility of individual bankers or government officials: it concerns the control of financial resources, the relationship between the capitalist state and private capital, and the organization of working people to defend their interests.
Particular attention is given to the involvement of the Social Security Institute (IPS), whose investments in Ueno Bank reportedly reached approximately $345 million during the first half of 2026. These resources, the article stresses, represent workers' deferred wages, intended to finance pensions, healthcare and social protection rather than private financial accumulation.
The analysis also highlights the relationship between political and economic power, noting Peña's previous business connections with the conglomerate associated with Ueno Bank and raising questions about the independence of financial supervision.
Drawing on Marx's analysis of fictitious capital, González Cáceres argues that the crisis illustrates how financial expansion can generate expectations of future profits without a corresponding increase in productive wealth, ultimately exposing workers and public institutions to serious risks.
The article also points to trade unions and workers' organizations demanding the withdrawal of pension funds from the troubled bank and greater public control over social security resources.
In a subsequent report published on November 7, Adelante! highlighted the immediate consequences for workers employed by businesses linked to the banking crisis, including unpaid wages and uncertainty over jobs.
For the Paraguayan communist newspaper, the Ueno Bank affair demonstrates that the central question extends beyond the responsibility of individual bankers or government officials: it concerns the control of financial resources, the relationship between the capitalist state and private capital, and the organization of working people to defend their interests.
