Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, a one-time Marxist guerrilla and flower farmer whose radical vision of democracy, plain-spoken philosophy and simple lifestyle fascinated people across the country, has died at the age of 90.
His death was announced by the current Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi on the X network, and in a message he said that Mujica was a "president, activist, guide and leader."
Mujica was being treated for esophageal cancer and his wife announced yesterday that he was dying.
In January, Mujica, an icon of the left in Latin America, revealed that his cancer, diagnosed in May 2024, had spread and that his aging body was no longer able to withstand treatment.
Even weakened by his treatment, Mujica re-emerged on the political scene in the fall of 2024 to campaign for his leftist coalition in the national elections that saw his chosen candidate, and then Orsi, become president.
Jose Mujica, known as "Pepe," became famous worldwide for his rejection of convention while he ruled Uruguay, a small South American country of 3,4 million people sandwiched between the giants of Brazil and Argentina.
The advocate of frugality refused to live in the presidential palace, drove an aging Volkswagen Beetle, and preferred to stay on his modest farm outside Montevideo. He gained popularity for his spontaneous, outspoken, and often polemical speeches.
During his presidency from 2010-2015, Mujica oversaw the transformation of his small South American country into one of the most liberal social democracies in the world. He gained respect at home and abroad and a cult status abroad for legalizing marijuana and same-sex marriage, implementing the first major abortion rights law, and establishing Uruguay as a leader in alternative energy.
Bonus video:
