Uruguay’s humble ex-president, leftist icon Mujica passes away at 89
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Jose "Pepe" Mujica, known as the world’s poorest president, dies at 89 after a battle with cancer.
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Uruguay's former President Jose "Pepe" Mujica leaves a polling station after voting in the presidential run-off election in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sunday, November 24, 2024. (AP)
Uruguay's former president Jose "Pepe" Mujica has died at the age of 89, the government in Montevideo announced Tuesday, marking the passing of a guerrilla fighter turned political leader who became a hero of the Latin American left.
"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 announced in a post on X.
Con profundo dolor comunicamos que falleció nuestro compañero Pepe Mujica. Presidente, militante, referente y conductor. Te vamos a extrañar mucho Viejo querido. Gracias por todo lo que nos diste y por tu profundo amor por tu pueblo.
— Yamandú Orsi (@OrsiYamandu) May 13, 2025
During his presidency from 2010 to 2015, Mujica earned the nickname "the world's poorest president" because he donated the majority of his salary to charity, a gesture that brought him international recognition for his modest lifestyle and commitment to social causes.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum mourned the late leader in a post on X, praising Mujica as an "example for Latin America and the rest of the world."
Lamentamos profundamente la muerte de nuestro querido Pepe Mujica, ejemplo para América Latina y el mundo entero por la sabiduría, pensamiento y sencillez que lo caracterizaron. Externamos nuestra tristeza y pésame a familiares, amigos y al pueblo de Uruguay. pic.twitter.com/ygakNsKesN
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) May 13, 2025
Down to earth
Mujica attended state functions in sandals and rejected the presidential palace, living instead on his rustic farm outside Montevideo, where he grew flowers for income, a practice he maintained even while in office.
His most famous possession, the sky-blue 1987 Volkswagen Beetle (purchased for $1,800), became a global symbol of his anti-materialism after he declined an offer from an Arab sheikh to buy it for $1 million, quipping, "You wouldn't pay that much for a car full of dents," in an interview for El Pais.
A history of valor, glory
During a November 2024 interview for AFP, Mujica reflected on the presidential victory of his political heir, history teacher Orsi, characterizing it as "a reward" that came at the twilight of his own long and storied career in public service.
Revolutionary Tupamaros movement
In the 1960s, Mujica helped establish the Tupamaros movement, a revolutionary group born from deep social convictions that initially redistributed wealth to uplift Uruguay's poor before facing government crackdowns that forced it into armed resistance against what they saw as an oppressive regime.
During those years, Mujica lived a life of daring resistance, surviving multiple gunshot wounds and participating in a dramatic mass prison escape as a key figure in the Tupamaros movement's campaign against Uruguay's ruling establishment.
However, when the guerrilla group collapsed in 1972 under intense military pressure, Mujica was recaptured and spent the next 13 years imprisoned throughout Uruguay's brutal dictatorship (1973-1985), enduring systematic torture and spending extended periods in solitary confinement.
Movement of Popular Participation
Following his release from prison, Mujica immediately immersed himself in political organizing, establishing the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP) in 1989 as a grassroots force that would grow to become the largest and most influential faction within Uruguay's leftist Broad Front coalition.
After being elected to parliament in 1995, Mujica rose through Uruguay's political ranks, first becoming a senator in 2000 and then assuming the role of agriculture minister when the Broad Front coalition formed the country's first left-wing government in 2005, before ultimately winning the presidency for a single five-year term in accordance with Uruguay's constitutional term limits.
Battle with cancer
In May 2024, Mujica was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which later metastasized to his liver. His wife, Lucia Topolansky, revealed this week that he had been receiving palliative care as his condition progressed.
Mujica had no children.
He is survived by fellow ex-guerrilla Topolansky.
