Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics.
He was 89.
Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment.
Photo: AFP
“With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X.
“Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later, while passing government buildings.
Mujica earned the moniker “world’s poorest president” during his 2010-2015 presidency for giving away much of his salary to charity and living a simple life on his farm, with his fellow ex-guerrilla wife and a three-legged dog.
The government announced three days of national mourning and said that his body was to be taken to the legislative palace yesterday to lie in state.
Activists from Mujica’s Movement of Popular Participation gathered outside the party’s headquarters to make giant banners marked “Hasta siempre, viejo querido” (“Until forever, old friend”).
Leaders from across Latin America and Europe paid tribute to the man described by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as an “example for Latin America and the entire world.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva echoed that message.
“His human greatness transcended the borders of Uruguay and his presidential mandate. The wisdom of his words formed a true song of unity and fraternity for Latin America,” Lula said in a statement.
At the Madison, an unassuming corner cafe in central Montevideo, waiter Walter Larus recalled Mujica popping in for a steak shortly after winning office.
“He felt and lived like ordinary people, not like today’s politicians who seem rich,” the 53-year-old waiter said.
In a 2012 interview, Mujica denied being poor, saying that his was, rather, a life of “austerity.”
“I need little to live,” he said.
He transformed Uruguay, a prosperous country of 3.4 million people best known for soccer and ranching, into one of Latin America’s most progressive societies.
In later life, he was disappointed at the authoritarian drift of some governments, accusing repressive leaders in Venezuela and Nicaragua of “messing things up.”
He was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in May last year and it spread to his liver.
His wife, Lucia Topolansky, earlier this week said that he was receiving palliative care.
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