MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan Senator and former Minister Adrián Peña killed in car crash

Peña was at the wheel of his car. He was not wearing his seatbelt and his driver's license had expired two years ago. Photo: Sebastián Astorga

Uruguayan Senator Adrián Peña was killed Thursday in a head-on car crash in the department (province) of Canelones on Route 36. He had actively represented his country as the first Environment Minister at the Glasgow 2021 Conference of Parties. He was forced to resign amid a scandal involving his college degree (or lack thereof) in January last year, after which he effectively took his Senate seat on Jan. 30, 2023.

According to the police report, a 27-year-old person involved in the collision walked away from the site with head and chest trauma and eventually lost consciousness, needing hospitalization. The Senator was driving his vehicle and he did not turn at the bend in the road.

Born Nelson Adrián Peña Robaina on Jan. 20, 1976, he was also a businessman engaged in the poultry breeding and distribution business. He belonged to the Colorado Party and in 1999 he supported Jorge Batlle's presidential bid.

In 2009 Peña joined the United Batllismo of Canelones and accompanied Pedro Bordaberry in Vamos Uruguay. That same year he was elected member of the Departmental Executive Committee of the Colorado Party of Canelones and National and Departmental Conventional in the Internal Elections. That year he formed a new political group called “Destino Canelones” to renew the Colorado Party in the department.

He was elected deputy in 2014 heading a list to the House of Representatives for the department of Canelones. In 2018 he supported Ernesto Talvi's candidacy for the presidency. In 2019 he was elected to the Senate but postponed his swearing-in after President Luis Lacalle Pou chose him for the Environment Ministry.

According to Las Piedras Prosecutor Bárbara Zapater citing witness testimony, Peña's car veered into the opposing lane. There were no traces of Peña trying to use the brakes, neither was he wearing his seat belt, Zapater also said. It is yet to be determined whether Peña had consumed any alcohol before driving. Zapater also noted that Peña's driver's license had expired two years ago.

Peña was a Colorado Party leader and businessman. A legislator who had spoken with him a few hours ago told El País that the former minister had told him that he was sleeping particularly little.

Another Colorado leader confirmed that in the last week Peña - who tried until the last moment to pass a law to extend the competitive entrance to all the municipalities - had hardly slept between one activity and another.

At the time of his resignation as Environment Minister, Peña was one course short of a degree in Business Management from the Catholic University of Uruguay but still used the prefix “Lic.” which would indicate he had graduated.

“There are no apologies for the mistake I made,” said Peña at the time before pledging to complete his studies ”and the matter will be settled.”

“The mistake was the one I recognized, which I regretted and apologized for. It has to do with having lied regarding that title for a while,” he also reckoned years after being among those most critical of former Vice President Raúl Sendic for having lied about his bachelor's degree.

During his appearance in Glasgow, the Mercosur countries agreed on the need to create a negotiating group to tackle climate change and pursue the 2015 Paris Agreement goals.

“We agreed to start working together on environmental issues through cooperation actions and in this way to position ourselves as food-producing countries that are on the way to environmental responsibility in their production systems, to facilitate access of our products to the markets, it seems clear and logical that those countries that have the same interests and similar difficulties join together in the search for common objectives,” Peña said back then.