José Mujica, nicknamed Pepe, a former guerrilla and later President of Uruguay, has died at the age of 89. In his time, he introduced progressive reforms that made him famous outside of South America. In particular, Mujica signed a law allowing same-sex marriage and abortion. He also advocated for the legalization of marijuana.
This is reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our comrade Pepe Mujica. Thank you for everything you have given us and for your deep love for your people
Times of the rebelsAt the time when Mujica became interested in politics, the left-wing forces in Uruguay were weak and disunited, and Mujica began his political career in the progressive wing of the centre-right National Party.
In the late 1960s, he joined the Marxist guerrilla movement "Tupamaros", which fought against the conservative government through robberies, kidnappings and explosions.
And although, according to Mujica, he did not kill anyone, he still participated in armed clashes and was wounded six times. The coup in 1973 initiated a 12-year dictatorship: about 200 people were killed, thousands were imprisoned and tortured.
Mujica spent almost 15 years in prison, many of them in isolation, lying on the bottom of an old trough. He escaped twice, once through a tunnel. In his old age, he admitted that the habit of talking to himself was a consequence of prison solitude.
After the restoration of democracy in 1985, he was released, and he gradually became one of the key figures of the left-wing movement in the country.
PresidencyMujica was 74 years old when he became president. In the elections, he received 52% of the vote, despite the concerns of some voters about his age and his past as one of the leaders of the Tupamaros rebel group in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lucía Topolansky was Mujica's longtime partner since their time in the Tupamaros. The couple married in 2005, and from 2017 to 2020 she served as vice president.
During his time in office, Mujica refused to move to the presidential residence, deciding to stay in his modest home, where he kept a small flower farm in the suburbs of the capital Montevideo.
He could often be seen without an official suit and tie. He drove an old "Beetle" and dined in restaurants in the city center, where mostly office workers gathered.
As president, Mujica took a then-innovative liberal stance on issues related to civil liberties. In particular, he signed a law allowing same-sex marriage and abortions in early pregnancy, and supported a proposal to legalize the sale of marijuana.
The measures on same-sex marriage and abortion were a major shift for Catholic Latin America, and the move on marijuana was almost unprecedented at the time worldwide.
He defended democracy like few others. And he never stopped advocating for social justice and overcoming all inequality
He added that "Mujica's greatness went beyond Uruguay and his presidential term."
After leaving office, Mujico and his wife remained politically active, regularly attending inaugurations of Latin American presidents and providing support to candidates in Uruguay.
The problem is that the world is run by old people who forget what they were like in their youth