Uruguayan Minister of Environment resigns after controversy over university degree
Uruguay’s Minister of Environment, Adrián Peña, announced his resignation after the controversy over a university degree he claimed without formally completing his studies.
“The mistake was one that I regretted, for which I apologized, and it has to do with having lied about this degree for a while,” said Peña.
In a statement to the press at the Legislative Palace (seat of the Parliament), he clarified that he did the degree of Bachelor in Business Administration, and passed the subjects and the thesis.
However, he lacked a short course to obtain a degree at the Catholic University.
“I assumed the mistake, and today I pay for it with the highest cost. That does not weigh on me because I am not attached to the position. It weighs on me because of my desire to do things,” he explained.
He pointed out that the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, did not ask him to resign.
Peña, 47, claimed a degree that he did not have when he was a deputy, but also as a minister, a position he assumed in August 2020, reported last Thursday in the weekly Búsqueda.
After learning of Búsqueda’s note, the now ex-minister defended himself by claiming that he obtained the degree in 2022 when the final thesis was approved.
However, on Sunday, it was reported in Búsqueda that Peña was missing at least one short course to obtain his degree.
Peña is the leader of the sector Ciudadanos, part of the Colorado Party, the second most important partner of the government coalition that brought Lacalle Pou (National Party) to the presidency.
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