He studied journalism at the Central University of Venezuela and became well known after he was hired as the director of the newspaper El Nacional.

He also hosted his own interview program on the television channel Venevisión, in which he severely criticized the two dominant parties of the second half of the twentieth century in Venezuela, AD and COPEI.

During this time he suffered several attempts on his life, one of them occurring in his apartment, presumably not only to kill him but to destroy his computer and archives.

[3] In October 2004, shortly before the new mayoral elections, Peña withdrew from the race, alleging national government fraud.

[4] In 2005 Peña was thought to be in Miami, with the Venezuelan government asking for extradition for alleged irregularities relating to the Bratton contract.