巴拉圭亚松森 —— 巴拉圭检察官宣布，随着一家主要数字银行倒闭，巴拉圭总统圣地亚哥·佩尼亚正面临刑事调查，与此同时，这位南美洲领导人正准备于周五在参议院为自己辩护，以应对可能被免职的局面。
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — Paraguayan President Santiago Peña is under criminal investigation following the collapse of a major digital bank, prosecutors announced, as the South American leader prepares to defend himself before the Senate against possible removal from office on Friday.
Ueno Bank 的危机让长期执政的科罗拉多党倒戈相向，这对这位前国际货币基金组织经济学家来说是一个惊人的逆转。他曾得到该国最有权势政治家的支持，就在几周前还受到华盛顿欢迎，被视为特朗普政府的关键盟友。
The crisis at Ueno Bank turned Peña’s long-ruling Colorado Party against him, a stunning reversal for the former International Monetary Fund economist who had enjoyed the backing of the country’s most powerful politicians and was welcomed in Washington just weeks ago as a key ally of the Trump administration.
在一天闪电般的事态发展中，佩尼亚周四通过 X 平台提出辞职，随后众议院一致投票通过弹劾他。两院均拒绝接受佩尼亚的辞职提议，参议院反而决定推进审判，这可能导致总统被免职。
In a day of lightning-speed developments, Peña offered his resignation Thursday via X, with the lower house voting unanimously to impeach him moments later. Both houses declined to accept Peña’s offer to resign, with the Senate instead deciding to press forward with a trial that could result in the president’s removal from office.
反对派参议员继续要求免去佩尼亚的职务，理由是允许他辞职将保留其终身参议员的资格，并享有法律保护，若巴拉圭总检察长埃米利亚诺·罗隆·费尔南德斯决定提起诉讼，这些保护可能阻止对他进行起诉。
Opposition senators are continuing to demand that Peña be removed from office, arguing that allowing him to resign would preserve his eligibility to become a senator for life, with legal protections that could prevent his prosecution, should Paraguay’s Attorney General Emiliano Rolón Fernández opt to file charges.
检察官办公室周四表示，罗隆已下令对 Ueno Bank 危机展开三项刑事调查，涉及针对佩尼亚及其他现任和前任政府官员的指控。
Rolón has ordered three criminal investigations into the Ueno Bank crisis, including allegations involving Peña and other current and former government officials, the prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
调查将审查当局对该银行的监管、其对银行倒闭的处理以及将公共资金存放在该贷款机构的做法。佩尼亚表示将配合调查人员。
The investigations will examine authorities’ oversight of the bank, their handling of its failure and the placement of public funds in the lender. Peña said he would cooperate with investigators.
“无论这一过程的结果如何，我都将负责任地、尊重宪法地行事，”他在周四早些时候表示。佩尼亚在发布到X平台的一段视频中说，他辞职是为了“国家的稳定、社会的安宁以及维护我们民主制度的必要性”。直到去年，佩尼亚仍持有一家与Ueno有关联公司的股份，他表达了悔意。但他并未就这场动荡承担责任，这场动荡导致数百万储户、退休人员和工人争相追回被冻结的存款和未付的工资。如果他被免职，副总统佩德罗·阿利亚纳将接替他成为巴拉圭领导人。
“Whatever the outcome of this process, I will act with responsibility and respect for the Constitution,” he said on Earlier Thursday, Peña said in a video posted to X that he was stepping down in the interest of “the stability of our country, social peace and the need to preserve our democratic institutions.”Peña, who until last year held a stake in a company linked to Ueno, expressed contrition. But he stopped short of accepting responsibility for the turmoil, which has left millions of depositors, retirees and workers scrambling to recoup their frozen savings and unpaid wages. If he’s removed from office, Vice President Pedro Alliana would replace him as Paraguay’s leader.
“如果我在任何时刻辜负了人民，我想向他们道歉，”他说。“我从未想过要背叛他们对我的信任。” 从明星放贷机构到被接管的银行 Ueno银行在不到五年的时间里，从一家默默无闻的金融公司成长为家喻户晓的品牌，声称拥有巴拉圭超过60%的成年人作为客户。许多巴拉圭人不禁要问，尽管曾多次收到关于其放贷做法的警告，一家与总统有关联的银行怎么能在规模和重要性上如此迅速地增长。
“I want to apologize to the people if I have failed them at any point,” he said. “It was never my intention to betray the trust they placed in me.”From star lender to seized bank Ueno Bank, which exploded from an obscure finance company to a household name in less than five years, claimed more than 60% of Paraguay’s adults as customers. Many Paraguayans are left asking how a bank linked to the president could grow so rapidly in size and importance despite repeated warnings about its lending practices.
答案在于佩尼亚的科罗拉多党与该国监管机构和商业精英之间令人不安的紧密关系，这种弱点一直存在，即使近年来稳健的经济管理和快速增长让巴拉圭获得了备受青睐的投资级信用评级。
The answer lies in the uncomfortable proximity of Peña’s Colorado Party to the country’s regulators and business elite, a weakness that has endured even as steady economic management and rapid growth recently earned Paraguay coveted investment-grade credit ratings.
“圣地亚哥·佩尼亚和科罗拉多党偷走了我们所有的积蓄，”周三随队伍游行至国会的抗议者路易斯·皮内达说。“我们受够了70年的掠夺。”
“Santiago Peña and the Colorado Party have stolen all our savings,” said Luis Pineda, one of the protesters marching to Congress on Wednesday. “We are fed up with 70 years of plunder.”
2023年拿到银行牌照后不久，Ueno似乎无处不在。这家数字贷款机构是一家几十年历史的金融公司的重塑品牌，它以慷慨的杂货现金返还优惠吸引客户，扩张至70多家网点，赞助巴拉圭国家足球队，并将其名字铺满了该国主要体育场。
Soon after winning its banking license in 2023, Ueno seemed to be everywhere in Paraguay. The digital lender, a rebranded version of a decades-old finance company, lured customers with generous cash-back offers on groceries as it grew to more than 70 locations, sponsored Paraguay’s national soccer team and plastered its name on the country’s main stadium.
在佩尼亚执政下，政府资金源源不断流入Ueno金库。他还任命Financiera Ueno（Ueno银行的前身）总裁卡洛斯·卡瓦略掌管中央银行——即负责监管这家数字贷款机构的机构。
Government money poured into Ueno’s coffers under Peña. He also appointed Carlos Carvallo, president of Financiera Ueno, the predecessor to Ueno Bank, to run the central bank, the agency charged with supervising the digital lender.
截至上个月，Ueno报告持有约8亿美元公共存款，约占其总存款的四分之一，其中包括国家养老金和医疗基金的资金，以及巴拉圭巨型水电大坝运营方的资金。
As of last month, Ueno reported holding roughly $800 million in public deposits, about a quarter of its total, including money from the state pension and health fund and the operators of Paraguay’s giant hydroelectric dams.
但中央银行内部的担忧正在升级。据巴拉圭主要报纸《ABC Color》报道，6月，其检查人员发现了一种向内部人士进行高风险放贷的模式。Ueno向与其所有者有关联的公司放出巨额贷款，超出法律允许的额度，且缺乏足够抵押品来覆盖债务一旦恶化可能产生的损失。
But worries were escalating inside the central bank. In June, its inspectors found a pattern of risky lending to insiders, reported ABC Color, a leading Paraguayan newspaper. Ueno had extended large sums to companies tied to its owners, beyond what the law allows and without enough collateral to cover the debts if they went bad.
直到上个月，佩尼亚还在为Ueno和中央银行的监管辩护，将这些担忧斥为抹黑运动，称其恐吓了公众。
As recently as last month, Peña defended Ueno and the central bank’s oversight, dismissing the concerns as a smear campaign that was spooking the public.
网点前排起长龙，客户却被拒之门外 但周一，一切戛然而止。中央银行称，监管机构在调查Ueno向与其所有者有关联公司发放的贷款时，发现了记录不全的放贷行为，以及该银行错误地将支出计入资产的情况。
Long lines outside branches but customers are locked out But on Monday, it all came crashing down. Regulators investigating Ueno’s loans to companies linked to its owners found poorly documented lending, the central bank said, as well as expenses the bank had wrongly counted as assets.
账目更正后，乌埃诺银行的资本金——即银行必须持有、用于吸收损失的缓冲资金——降至法定最低要求的一半以下。央行周二宣布接管这家银行，启动程序，将存款和可回收资产转移至其他银行，随后清算剩余部分。
Once the books were corrected, Ueno’s capital, the cushion banks must keep to absorb losses, fell to less than half the legal minimum. The central bank announced the lender’s seizure Tuesday, beginning a process to transfer deposits and recoverable assets to other banks before liquidating what remained.
乌埃诺银行的应用程序、银行卡和转账服务全部中断，各网点大门紧锁，绝望的储户在门外排起长队。周三，人们争相在其他银行开设新账户，导致其他银行的手机应用崩溃，进一步加剧了公众恐慌。
Ueno’s app, cards and transfers went dark and its branches locked their doors, leaving desperate depositors lined up outside. On Wednesday, a rush to open new accounts elsewhere crashed other banks’ mobile apps, fueling public panic.
官员们呼吁民众保持冷静。根据周三国会紧急通过的一项法律，一家国家担保基金必须在五个工作日内向受困储户偿付，从周四开始，先偿付金额不超过约1600美元的小额账户。该基金为每位客户提供最高约3.6万美元的保险，央行表示，这将覆盖约97%客户的全部余额。
Officials have appealed for calm. Under a law rushed through Congress on Wednesday, a state guarantee fund must repay stranded depositors within five business days, starting Thursday with small accounts of up to about $1,600. The fund insures up to about $36,000 per customer, which the central bank says will cover the full balances of an estimated 97% of clients.
周四，一名法官下令将包括创始人米格尔·巴斯克斯和银行行长胡安·曼努埃尔·古斯塔莱在内的六名乌埃诺银行高管羁押候审，另有两名人被软禁在家。检方指控27名银行高管及相关人员犯有背信罪和诈骗未遂罪。
On Thursday, a judge ordered six Ueno executives, including founder Miguel Vázquez and bank President Juan Manuel Gustale, jailed pending trial and two others placed under house arrest. Prosecutors have charged 27 bank officials and associates with breach of trust and attempted fraud.
古斯塔莱的律师对指控予以反驳，称高管们在放贷决策上依赖员工。“行长或董事会并不负责决定谁获得某笔特定贷款，”何塞·费尔南德斯·萨库尔对当地媒体说。抗议者走上街头周四，年轻的员工们仍穿着乌埃诺银行的制服，在劳工部门外焚烧信用卡、咒骂培尼亚，要求发放遣散费和被拖欠的工资。培尼亚的辞职并未让他们平静下来。
Gustale’s lawyer pushed back on the charges, arguing that senior executives had relied on staff for lending decisions. “The president or board is not responsible for deciding who receives a particular loan,” José Fernández Zacur told local media. Protesters in the streets Still in their Ueno uniforms, young employees burned their credit cards and cursed Peña outside the Labor Ministry on Thursday, demanding severance and unpaid wages. Peña’s resignation did little to calm them.
“让弹劾程序进行下去，让他失去豁免权，”周四的抗议者之一阿道弗·比利亚尔瓦说。
“Let the impeachment process take place and let him lose his immunity,” said Adolfo Villalba, one of the protesters on Thursday.
劳工部估计，此次倒闭影响了该银行及其相关企业约7000个直接和间接就业岗位。
The Labor Ministry estimates the collapse has affected about 7,000 direct and indirect jobs at the bank and its related businesses.
许多人将乌埃诺的倒台视为官方腐败的一个案例研究。根据透明国际最新的清廉指数，在南美洲只有委内瑞拉的排名比巴拉圭更差。
Many saw Ueno’s collapse as a case study in official corruption. Only Venezuela ranks worse in South America on Transparency International’s latest index of perceived corruption.
“这是对诚实、勤劳公民的又一次打击，这些人的微薄积蓄是多年劳动的成果，”贝拉尔米诺·巴尔布埃纳说，他是周三在首都亚松森向国会游行的数千人之一。
“This is yet another assault on honest, hard-working citizens, people whose small savings are the fruit of years of labor,” said Belarmino Balbuena, one of thousands who marched on Congress in the capital, Asunción, on Wednesday.