Paraguay’s pro-Trump president brought down by bank collapse

{"text":[[{"start":7.08,"text":"Paraguay’s president Santiago Peña has resigned after the collapse of a major digital bank with ties to his government left millions of people unable to access their savings and triggered a congressional vote to impeach him."}],[{"start":20.08,"text":"Peña had been under mounting pressure since Paraguay’s central bank on Tuesday seized control of Ueno Bank, a fast-growing lender used by more than half of the country’s adult population, saying it had become insolvent."}],[{"start":32.8,"text":"Peña, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, was an investor in Ueno’s holding company until March last year, appointed its former president to lead the central bank and sharply increased government deposits with the lender."}],[{"start":46.6,"text":"“I want to apologise to the people if I have failed them at any point,” Peña said in a video posted to X on Thursday announcing his resignation. “Today I have just one priority: the peace of mind of the Paraguayans who entrusted their savings to our financial system.”"}],[{"start":63.24,"text":"Paraguay’s lower house voted unanimously to impeach Peña minutes after his resignation. The Senate must now vote on whether to accept his resignation or push ahead with the impeachment, which would strip Peña of some legal protections from prosecution."}],[{"start":77.56,"text":"Paraguay’s public prosecutor’s office said on Thursday it would launch a criminal investigation into the president’s actions. Peña said in a statement that he would co-operate with investigators and “exercise [his] right to defence”."}],[{"start":90.16,"text":"Peña’s exit was hastened by a loss of support from Paraguay’s former leader Horacio Cartes, who remains head of the ruling Colorado Party and the country’s most powerful person. Cartes said earlier on Thursday that he would back Peña’s impeachment."}],[{"start":104.16,"text":"However, the party’s lawmakers voted down a proposal to impeach Peña’s vice-president, Pedro Alliana, an ally of Cartes, clearing Alliana’s path to assume the presidency."}],[{"start":114.36,"text":"Peña’s government has enjoyed tight links to the Trump administration, with US secretary of state Marco Rubio declaring Paraguay “an example” for other countries in the region when he was a senator in 2024. Trump scrapped sanctions that Joe Biden’s White House had placed on Cartes for “significant corruption”."}],[{"start":132.92,"text":"The abrupt closing down of Ueno Bank, with its 2.9mn customers losing access to their accounts in the early hours of Tuesday, had sparked protests in the capital Asunción, which analysts said were unusual."}],[{"start":146.04,"text":"“People are really outraged and it was easy for them to identify Peña as the one responsible,” said Sebastián Acha, a consultant and former lawmaker in Paraguay."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":157,"text":"The central bank has said Ueno’s solvency crisis — following months of scrutiny over its substantial lending to businesses linked to its parent company — does not threaten Paraguay’s wider financial system."}],[{"start":168.6,"text":"But the saga risks damaging the professional image that its monetary authorities have built up since successful macroeconomic reforms in the early 2000s."}],[{"start":178.52,"text":"Ueno secured a banking licence in 2023, two months after Peña had appointed its former boss Carlos Carvallo as head of the central bank. Carvallo resigned on Tuesday."}],[{"start":189.96,"text":"Acha said: “For 25 years there were no politicians appointed to those positions, only technical experts, and this government came in and started changing that.”"}],[{"start":200.6,"text":"Paraguay has emerged as a star economy in Latin America in recent years as its stability, low taxes and consistently strong GDP growth drew in foreign capital. The country secured its first investment-grade credit ratings in 2024."}],[{"start":215.12,"text":"Peña, a former IMF economist seen as a technocrat, travelled extensively to promote the country as a haven for investors."}],[{"start":223.44,"text":"“It is arguably more damaging that an episode like this involving political connections could unfold despite that technocratic profile,” said Gregory Ross, a Paraguay expert at advisory firm McLarty Associates."}],[{"start":235.52,"text":"“I don’t think this derails all Paraguay’s broader progress,” he added. “But it does leave a black eye on the image that will take a while to heal.”"}],[{"start":249.32,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793944615_3327.mp3"}