Paraguayan President Santiago Pea failed to appear for his impeachment trial in the Senate on Friday despite vowing to defend himself in person, as lawmakers moved toward a verdict that could remove him from office over the dramatic collapse of a bank tied to his administration.

Senators voted 39-3 to reject Pea's request for another 72 hours to prepare his defense.

When neither he nor a lawyer showed up at the scheduled time to argue his case, senators moved on without him and began reviewing the evidence against him.