Adrián Peña, Minister of the Environment of Uruguay, resigned from his position after it became known that the university degree he held for years was false.
In a press conference in which he took no questions, the official acknowledged his “mistake” and apologized, assuring that he did not want to harm the government. “The mistake was the one that I recognized, that I regretted and apologized for. It has to do with having lied about that title for a while,” she said.
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And I add: “I was wrong, I assumed the error and today I pay it with the highest it can cost me. It doesn’t weigh on me because I’m not clinging to the position. It weighs on me because of the desire to do things.”
Added to this, he clarified that he wanted to differentiate “the cases” well, alluding to former vice president Raúl Sendic Rodríguez (of the Broad Front, in the second presidential term of Tabaré Vázquez) who also lived a similar episode having lied that he had a degree in genetics . “The situations are different: I did the degree, I studied the 50 subjects, I did the thesis and I approved it“, he assured.
He also indicated that had “made days ago” the decision to resign and that he was discussing it with Luis Lacalle Pou. “A few days ago I told the president ‘I want you to get rid of me’ at the head of the ministry because that is how I feel comfortable.”
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After Peña’s departure, the Uruguayan president said that there was “full agreement” in the government with the management carried out by the now former official, belonging to the Colorado Party, and clarified that he “values, understands and shares” his decision. Furthermore, he reported that he had not asked for his resignation: “He presented it and that is valuable because he understands that the government cannot be harmed by the situation.”
The government reported that the new head of the Environment portfolio will be Robert Bouvier, from the same sector and party as Peña. Bouvier, Antel’s vice president, was recommended as a replacement for Lacalle Pou by the outgoing minister himself.
The twists and turns of Peña’s academic situation
The former official claimed to have a degree in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU)., stating that it was received in 2022 after defending his thesis that same year. In addition, he claimed that he had the title in hand and in the past had used his academic training to justify his opinion on bills when he was a representative.
The controversy began after the publication of the Uruguayan weekly Search where they affirmed that the minister used the title of Bachelor of a career that he had begun in 2002 but later declared that he had just finished in 2022.
As a result of this, last Thursday Peña held a meeting with Lacalle Pou and maintained that the president had supported him after hearing his version of events. “The important thing for him (Lacalle Pou) is that Indeed, I studied the degree as I have just demonstrated. There is all the schooling, I passed all the subjects, I passed them all, then, some time later, I submitted the thesis, defended it and saved it. He told me that this was important, “he declared at the exit according to the local media Underlined.
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The official had presented documents proving that he passed almost all the subjects between 2002 and 2006 and that he “re-entered” in 2021. Although he did not mention the thesis in schooling, the minister stated that he defended it on March 8, 2022 and that he had to take the exam on the subject “Quality Management and Innovation” because he had followed another study plan.
However, this Sunday it was learned that he still lacks a short seminar to conclude his studiesAs reported Search and confirmed The Observer. For this reason, the official does not have his title nor is he in a position to process it since he does not comply with the required formalities.
Sources close to Peña informed The Observer that the former minister found out after his meeting with the president that owed a six-day seminar. According to a person close to the official, he called the university and it was the director of the degree who informed him of his academic situation, so he is now waiting for the date to take the pending course.
mb / ds
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