Ueno Bank's Collapse in Paraguay: From Digital Star to National Crisis

The collapse of Paraguay's Ueno Bank has frozen deposits for millions of customers and led to the impeachment of President Santiago Peña, who is now in preventive detention. The central bank declared the institution unviable on November 3, and eight executives are jailed. Ueno grew rapidly from a digital finance firm in 2021 to three million clients by 2026, but experts say its low capital and generous 40% cashback rewards signaled unsustainability. Peña is accused of injecting over $800 million in public funds and hiding financial problems while holding shares until 2025. Emergency measures have reimbursed up to $18,000 for nearly 1.2 million small depositors, but larger clients await asset liquidation. The crisis has caused a 9.5% dollar surge, retail sales drops up to 70%, and fears of thousands of job losses if CEO Miguel Vázquez's business conglomerate collapses.