Raquel Peña (politician)

Raquel Peña Rodríguez de Antuña (born 10 September 1966) is a Dominican politician and academic who has serves as the 40th Vice President of the Dominican Republic under President Luis Abinader since 2020.

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Peña, the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez, and, for married women, the optional marital name is de Antuña.

Excelentísima Señora Raquel Peña
Peña in 2025
40th Vice President of the Dominican Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 August 2020
President	Luis Abinader
Preceded by	Margarita Cedeño
Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources
Acting 16 June 2022 – 7 July 2022
President	Luis Abinader
Preceded by	Orlando Jorge Mera
Succeeded by	Miguel Ceara Hatton
Personal details
Born	Raquel Peña Rodríguez (1966-09-10) 10 September 1966 (age 58) Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Political party	Modern Revolutionary Party
Spouse	Marco José Antuña Cabral (d. 2019)
Children	3
Alma mater	Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra Université du Québec à Montréal (MBA)

Early life and education

Raquel Peña was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, on 10 September 1966, to Rafael Leocadio Peña Guillén and Estela Rodríguez de Peña. Her father was a cigar salesman. Her primary education was conducted in Santiago de los Caballeros at the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús and La Salle schools. She graduated from Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) with a degree in business administration and from the Université du Québec with a Master of Business Administration in 2002.^[1]

Career

Peña assumed control of the general management of the commercial and tobacco companies owned by her family. She holds shares in Parque Industrial Corporación Zona Franca del Norte, SA. She started teaching at PUCMM in 2000, and was director of the Business Administration.^[1] She was financial vice-rector of PUCMM from 2015 to 2020.^[1][2]

Peña's family had close ties to political figures in the Dominican Republic, including Hipólito Mejía and Luis Abinader. During the 2012 election Peña led the Modern Revolutionary Party's (PRM) campaign in Santiago de los Caballeros.^[3]

Abinader, the presidential nominee of the PRM,^[4] selected Peña as his vice presidential running mate and they won in the 2020 election. She is the third woman, after Milagros Ortiz Bosch and Margarita Cedeño, to serve as vice president.^[1]

Abinader appointed her as coordinator of the Health cabinet.^[1] In that position she managed the Dominican Republic's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was temporarily placed as head of the Ministry of Environment in 2022, until someone could be selected to lead it.^[5]

Personal life

Peña married Marco José Antuña Cabral, with whom she had three children before his death^[1] in 2019.^[2]

Political positions

Peña supports having the judiciary branch be independent of the executive branch.^[1]