Uruguay’s Jose Mujica, a president famed for sparse living, dead at 89

Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a erstwhile leftist rebel who became Uruguay’s president from 2010 to 2015, has died astatine the property of 89.

Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi announced his decease successful a societal media station connected Tuesday. Mujica had been diagnosed with pharynx crab successful 2024.

“It is with heavy sorrow that we denote the decease of our comrade Pepe Mujica,” Orsi wrote. “Thank you for everything you gave america and for your heavy emotion for your people.”

Mujica became an icon adjacent beyond Uruguay’s borders, arsenic helium led his state to prosecute biology reforms, legalise same-sex matrimony and loosen restrictions connected marijuana.

He besides was celebrated for maintaining his elemental manner adjacent during his presidency, erstwhile helium eschewed the statesmanlike palace successful favour of the farmhouse wherever helium grew flowers. He told Al Jazeera successful 2022 that specified opulence tin “divorce” presidents from their people.

“I judge that politicians should unrecorded similar the bulk of their people, not similar however the privileged number lives,” Mujica explained.

News of Mujica’s decease has been met with tributes from astir the world, peculiarly from figures connected the Latin American left.

“We profoundly regret the passing of our beloved Pepe Mujica, an illustration to Latin America and the full satellite for his wisdom, foresight, and simplicity,” Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote connected societal media.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, meanwhile, remembered Mujica’s optimism successful a station of his own.

“If you near america anything, it was the unquenchable anticipation that things tin beryllium done better,” helium wrote.

For his part, Colombian President Gustavo Petro offered a tribute to Mujica that doubled arsenic a telephone for greater collaboration and integration crossed Latin America.

“Goodbye, friend,” Petro wrote successful the aftermath of Mujica’s passing, arsenic helium envisioned a much unified region. “I anticipation that Latin America volition 1 time person an anthem.”

Mujica became a awesome to a procreation of governmental leaders helping to steer their countries retired of subject dictatorships during the second fractional of the 20th century. Like Petro, Mujica was likewise a erstwhile rebel fighter.

As a young antheral successful the 1960s, helium led equipped fighters arsenic portion of the far-left Tupamaros movement, which was known for robbing banks, taking implicit towns and adjacent exchanging gunfire with section police.

Mujica was arrested aggregate times and spent astir a decennary successful solitary confinement, successful a situation wherever helium endured torture.

A authorities crackdown connected the left-wing fighters helped pave the mode for a coup successful 1973, followed by a brutal subject dictatorship that perpetrated quality rights abuses similar forced disappearances. But successful 1985, Uruguay began its modulation to democracy, and Mujica and different rebel fighters were released nether an amnesty law.

He started to go a unit successful Uruguay’s politics, joining the Frente Amplio oregon Broad Front, a centre-left conjugation with different erstwhile fighters.

Uruguay’s erstwhile President Jose Mujica arrives successful his celebrated Volkswagen Beetle car to formed his ballot successful Montevideo, Uruguay, connected October 26, 2014 [File: Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo]

After helium was elected president astatine property 74, Mujica staked retired progressive stances connected civilian liberties and societal issues including termination and cheery marriage, and helium adjacent pushed for the legalisation of marijuana. He besides emphasised the improvement of greenish vigor practices, putting Uruguay astatine the forefront of addressing the clime crisis.

His semipermanent spouse Lucia Topolansky, whom helium met during his clip with the Tupamaros, was besides politically active, and she served arsenic his vice president aft they were joined successful 2005.

While president, Mujica famously shunned the statesmanlike residence and remained astatine his angiosperm workplace connected the outskirts of the superior of Montevideo. He besides drove a weathered bluish Volkswagen Beetle, 1 of his trademarks. His humble manner led immoderate to dub him the “world’s poorest president”.

“We elite a president, and it’s arsenic if they’re a campaigner to beryllium king, idiosyncratic with a court, a reddish carpet, who has to unrecorded successful a fancy palace,” helium told Al Jazeera successful 2022, earlier adding with diagnostic bluntness: “Don’t blasted the pig, but those who scratch his back.”

Mujica remained a salient nationalist fig adjacent aft leaving the presidency, attending the inauguration of governmental leaders crossed Latin America and offering enactment to candidates successful Uruguay, among them Orsi, who was elected successful 2024.

“The occupation is that the satellite is tally by aged people, who hide what they were similar erstwhile they were young,” Mujica said during a 2024 interrogation with the quality bureau Reuters.

Mujica was informed successful September 2024 that radiation attraction had efficaciously targeted crab of the esophagus, but a doc reported successful January 2025 that the crab had returned and dispersed to his liver.

Pope Francis meets Mujica and his woman Lucía Topolansky connected November 5, 2016 [File: L’Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP]

The erstwhile rebel and president did not look overly concerned.

“Honestly, I’m dying,” Mujica told the play mag Busqueda successful what helium said would beryllium his past interview. “A warrior has the close to rest.”