Former Uruguay president José ‘Pepe’ Mujica dies
Former Uruguay President José Mujica, a onetime Marxist guerilla and flower farmer whose radical brand of democracy, plain-spoken philosophy and simple lifestyle fascinated people around the world, died Tuesday. He was 89.
José ‘Pepe’ Mujica
Uruguay President Yamandú Orsi, announced his death, which came four months after Mujica decided to forgo further medical treatment for esophageal cancer and enter hospice care at his three-room ranch house on the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital.
“President, activist, guide and leader,” Orsi wrote of his longtime political mentor before heading to Mujica’s home to pay his respects. “Thank you for everything you gave us.”
Mujica had been under treatment for cancer of the esophagus since his diagnosis last spring. Radiation eliminated much of the tumor but soon Mujica’s autoimmune disease complicated his recovery.
As leader of a leftist guerrilla group in the 1960s known as the Tupamaros, Mujica robbed banks, planted bombs and abducted businessmen and politicians on Montevideo’s streets in hopes of provoking a popular uprising that would lead to a Cuban-style socialist Uruguay.
The ensuing right-wing military dictatorship that ruled Uruguay between 1973 and 1985 sent him to prison for nearly 15 years, 10 of which he spent in solitary confinement.
During his 2010-2015 presidency, Mujica, widely known as “Pepe,” oversaw the transformation of his small South American nation into one of the world’s healthiest and most socially liberal democracies. He earned admiration at home and cult status abroad for legalizing marijuana and same-sex marriage, enacting the region’s first sweeping abortion rights law and establishing Uruguay as a leader in alternative energy.
Mujica earned the title as the “world’s humblest president”, donating 90% of his presidential salary to charity and driving an old Volkswagen Beetle. His humility was a key characteristic that gained him global recognition, as it was unusual for a country’s leader to exhibit such a degree of modesty, shunning luxury and wealth during his presidency.
