{"id":7629,"date":"2025-05-14T12:23:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T12:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/jose-mujica-uruguays-modest-leader-who-transformed-the-country-dies-at-89\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T12:23:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T12:23:32","slug":"jose-mujica-uruguays-modest-leader-who-transformed-the-country-dies-at-89","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/jose-mujica-uruguays-modest-leader-who-transformed-the-country-dies-at-89\/","title":{"rendered":"Jos\u00e9 Mujica, Uruguay\u2019s modest leader who transformed the country, dies at 89"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uruguay\u2019s former President Jos\u00e9 Mujica, a leftist icon known for his progressive social reforms, died on Tuesday at the age of 89. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica,\u201d Uruguay\u2019s President Yamand\u00fa Orsi announced on X. <\/p>\n

The folksy, former guerrilla is remembered for his modest lifestyle during his presidential term \u2013 famously shunning the presidential palace to carry out his duties from his rural farm. <\/p>\n

He had been battling cancer for more than a year prior to his death, telling reporters in 2024 that he would fight on for as long as he could. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll continue to fight alongside my comrades, faithful to my way of thinking, and entertaining myself with my vegetables and my chickens,\u201d he said. \u201cFor the rest, I am grateful, and after all, you can\u2019t take away what I\u2019ve had.\u201d <\/p>\n

A humble leader<\/h2>\n

\u201cPepe\u201d Mujica, as he is more widely known, burst into the national scene in the 1960s as a leader of the leftist militant group Tupamaros, which waged an armed insurgency against the government in the 60s and 70s after being inspired by the Cuban Revolution. <\/p>\n

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Mujica works on his crops on May 21, 2010 in Montevideo, Uruguay.<\/span> <\/div>
Ricardo Ceppi\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The uprising was put down by government forces during Uruguay\u2019s military dictatorship, and Mujica was subsequently imprisoned for nearly 15 years, enduring many forms of torture. <\/p>\n

Mujica spoke of the horror of that period in 2020. \ufeff\u201cBeing tied up with wire with my hands behind my back for six months; being thrown out of the truck for two or three days; going two years without being taken to the bathroom, having to bathe with a jar, a cup of water, and a handkerchief,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He was released from prison in 1985 after democracy was restored to the country. Four years later, he and other members of Tupamaros founded the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP), a party under which he won several legislative elections. <\/p>\n

In 2009, he launched his bid for president, winning in a runoff with more than 50% of the vote. <\/p>\n

Under his watch, between 2010 and 2015, Uruguay\u2019s economy expanded, and he implemented several progressive reforms. Uruguay legalized abortion, gay marriage, and allowed the recreational use of cannabis, becoming the first country in the world to do so. <\/p>\n

Mujica\u2019s supporters regarded him as one of the humblest leaders the country has ever had, pointing to his decision to forgo the presidential palace and live in a rural farmhouse during his term. <\/p>\n

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Mujica arrives at a polling station in Montevideo, Uruguay, in October 2014.<\/span> <\/div>
Mariana Greif Etchebehere\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

His modest life led many to refer to him as the \u201cworld\u2019s poorest president,\u201d a moniker he took issue with. <\/p>\n

In April 2024, Mujica announced he had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his esophagus. After months of treatment, his doctor said in August that the cancer in his esophagus appeared to be in remission, but that he had developed a \u201ckidney disease\u201d due to radiation therapy to treat the tumor. <\/p>\n

In January, he said the cancer had spread to his liver, telling the Uruguayan media outlet B\u00fasqueda that he was \u201cdying.\u201d He chose to forgo additional treatment and asked to be left alone in the twilight of his life. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doomed, brother. This is as far as I go,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Latin America in mourning<\/h2>\n

Leaders across Latin America mourned the former president, saying the region had lost a beacon of hope and humility. <\/p>\n

Alberto Fern\u00e1ndez, former president of neighboring Argentina, praised Mujica\u2019s modesty, calling him \u201can example of austerity in a society that rewards those who amass fortunes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, a fellow leftist leader who was in office roughly around the same time as Mujica, called him a \u201cbrother\u201d full of wisdom whose teachings would continue to live on. <\/p>\n

Chilean President Gabriel Boric echoed those sentiments, saying, \u201cIf you left us anything, it was the unquenchable hope that things can be done better \u2013 \u2018step by step, so as not to go off the rails,\u2019 as you used to say.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uruguay\u2019s former President Jos\u00e9 Mujica, a leftist icon known for his progressive social reforms, died on Tuesday at the age of 89. \u201cIt is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our comrade…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}