总统圣地亚哥·佩尼亚将在参议院为自己辩护，以应对一项强行将其免职的表决，而非接受其辞呈，这一法律上的区别可能决定他是否保留刑事起诉豁免权。
President Santiago Peña will defend himself in the Senate against a vote to forcibly remove him from office instead of accepting his resignation, a legal distinction that could determine whether he retains immunity from criminal prosecution.
佩尼亚周四宣布打算辞职，屈服于因其与一家本周倒闭的大型商业银行有关联而面临的压力。但他自己党派的成员和反对派在众议院对他发起了弹劾，将决定其以何种形式离职的权力留给了参议院。
Peña announced his intent to step down Thursday, bowing to pressure over his ties to a major commercial bank that collapsed this week. But members of his own party and the opposition impeached him in the lower house of Congress, leaving the decision for the Senate to decide what form his exit from office will take.
参议院定于当地时间下午7点45分在亚松森恢复程序，但将预留时间让佩尼亚或其代表于周五进行抗辩，这是根据参议院议长的说法。
The Senate is scheduled to resume proceedings at 7:45 p.m. in Asuncion, but will allow time for Peña or a representative to present his defense on Friday, according the body’s president.
佩尼亚在周四晚间的一条社交媒体帖子中誓言将亲自出席听证会。“我将出席并行使我的辩护权。我将用论据和证据，以对宪法和共和国机构的尊重来进行辩护，”他说。
In a social media post late Thursday, Peña vowed to appear in person for the hearing. “I will present myself and exercise my right to defense. I will do it with arguments and proof, with respect to the Constitution and the institutions of the Republic,” he said.
佩尼亚还表示，在公诉机关宣布将就其行为展开刑事调查后，他将配合当局。佩尼亚在去年出售股份前，拥有乌埃诺银行母公司巴斯克斯集团的股份。批评者指出存在利益冲突，政府在乌埃诺银行的存款从佩尼亚2023年上任时的零激增至今年早些时候的8亿多美元。
Peña also said he’d cooperate with authorities after the public prosecutor’s office said it would open a criminal investigation into his actions. The president owned a stake in Ueno Bank’s parent company, Grupo Vázquez, before divesting last year. Government deposits in Ueno Bank surged from zero when Peña took office in 2023 to over $800 million earlier this year as critics pointed out a conflict of interest.