Roberto Jorge Canessa Urta (born 17 January 1953) is a Uruguayan paediatric cardiologist, motivational speaker, and former rugby player.

[5] He attended Stella Maris College, located in barrio Carrasco, and was part of the school's alumni rugby club, Old Christians.

[8] Canessa suggested to his fellow survivors that to stay alive, they should eat the flesh of the deceased victims of the crash, which they did after days of "agonis[ing]" over having to resort to such a means.

[18] In March 2016, Canessa published his memoir, Tenía que sobrevivir: Cómo un accidente aéreo en los Andes inspiró mi vocación para salvar vidas, co-written with the Uruguayan author Pablo Vierci.

[24] On April 11, 2024, after a conference organized the previous day in Torreón, Mexico, two videos went viral on Twitter accusing Canessa of inappropriately groping several attendees at the event.

[27] On April 12, El País reported that they had tried to contact Canessa to talk about what happened and he refused to comment, stating that the remarks on social networks had been made in "bad faith".