José Mujica

Biography

José Alberto Mujica Cordano, known widely as 'Pepe' Mujica, was born on 20 May 1935 in the Cerro Largo Department of Uruguay and died on 13 May 2025 in Montevideo. He was the 40th President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, representing the Broad Front, a coalition of left-wing parties. Before becoming president, Mujica worked as a draftsperson and farmer, spending many years involved in Uruguayan politics, moving from armed insurgency to democratic leadership.

In his youth, Mujica joined the Tupamaros, a Marxist guerrilla group that challenged Uruguay's political system through armed actions. This led to his capture, and he was imprisoned during Uruguay's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s, spending about 14 years in harsh conditions, including torture and long solitary confinement. He spent much of that time in very severe conditions, enduring years in a well-like cell. He was released in 1985 after democracy was restored.

After his release, Mujica went into formal politics, joining the Broad Front. He eventually became Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 under President Tabaré Vázquez, a role that related to his farming background. He then served as a senator before winning the 2009 presidential election, taking office on 1 March 2010. During his presidency, he introduced a range of progressive reforms, like legalizing same-sex marriage, decriminalizing abortion, and legalizing marijuana under state control. He also worked on policies that strengthened trade unions and raised minimum wages in Uruguay.

Mujica was known worldwide not just for his policies but for his lifestyle in office. He donated about 90 percent of his monthly presidential salary of around 12,000 US dollars to charities that supported low-income people and small entrepreneurs, keeping only what he considered the average Uruguayan wage. He lived on a small farm outside Montevideo with his wife, Senator Lucía Topolansky, whom he married in 2005, choosing not to live in the official presidential residence. The international media often called him 'the world's poorest president,' a label he accepted with mixed feelings, arguing that true poverty was in the endless desire for more. He was a vocal critic of consumerism and capitalism, believing that pursuing material goods distracted people from true happiness and meaning.

In his later years, Mujica stayed active in public life and continued to speak out on issues like social inequality, environmental sustainability, and Latin American political unity. He received many international awards for his public service and humanitarian views, including the Order of the Aztec Eagle from Mexico and the Order of the Liberator General San Martín from Argentina. He died on 13 May 2025, one week before his ninetieth birthday, in Montevideo.