Jose Mujica, Uruguay's former leader, rebel icon and cannabis reformer, dead at 89

Jose Mujica a one-time guerrilla and later president of Uruguay who drove a beat-up VW Beetle and enacted progressive reforms that carried his reputation well beyond South America has died aged The straight-talking Mujica known to a great number of Uruguayans by his nickname Pepe led the small farming country's leftist regime from to after convincing voters his radical past was a closed chapter FORMER URUGUAYAN PRESIDENT JOSE MUJICA ANNOUNCES ESOPHAGEAL CANCER ASSESSMENT It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of our comrade Pepe Mujica President Yamandu Orsi mentioned in a post on X Thank you for everything you gave us and for your deep love for your people As president Mujica adopted what was then a pioneering liberal stance on issues related to civil liberties He signed a law allowing gay marriage and abortions in early pregnancy and backed a proposal to legalize marijuana sales The gay marriage and abortion measures were a big shift for Catholic Latin America and the move on marijuana was at the time almost unprecedented worldwide Regional leaders including leftist presidents in Brazil Chile and Mexico mourned Mujica's passing and praised his example He defended democracy like limited others And he never stopped advocating for social justice and the end of all inequalities mentioned Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Mujica's greatness transcended the borders of Uruguay and his presidential term he added During his term in office Mujica refused to move to the presidential residence choosing to stay in his modest home where he kept a small flower farm in a suburb of Montevideo the capital Shunning a formal suit and tie it was common to see him driving around in his Beetle or eating at downtown restaurants where office workers had lunch In a May interview with Reuters in the tin-roofed house that Mujica shared with his wife former Senator Lucia Topolansky he noted he had kept the old Beetle and that it was still in phenomenal condition But he added he preferred a turn on the tractor saying it was more entertaining than a car and was a place where you have time to think Critics questioned Mujica's tendency to break with protocol while his blunt and occasionally uncouth statements sometimes forced him to explain himself under pressure from opponents and political allies alike But it was his down-to-earth style and progressive musings that endeared him to numerous Uruguayans The difficulty is that the world is run by old people who forget what they were like when they were young Mujica explained during the interview Mujica himself was when he became president He was elected with of the vote despite certain voters' concerns about his age and his past as one of the leaders of the Tupamaros rebel group in the s and s Lucia Topolansky was Mujica's long-term partner dating back to their days in the Tupamaros The couple married in and she served as vice president from - After leaving office they remained politically developing regularly attending inaugurations of Latin American presidents and giving crucial backing to candidates in Uruguay including Orsi who took office in March They stopped growing flowers on their small holding but continued to cultivate vegetables including tomatoes that Topolansky pickled each season BEHIND BARSJose Mujica's birth certificate recorded him as born in although he claimed there was an error and that he was in fact born a year earlier He once described his upbringing as dignified poverty Mujica's father died when he was or years old and as a boy he helped his mother maintain the farm where they grew flowers and kept chickens and a scarce cows At the time Mujica became interested in politics Uruguay's left was weak and fractured and he began his political career in a progressive wing of the center-right National Party In the late s he joined the Marxist Tupamaros guerrilla movement which sought to weaken Uruguay's conservative regime through robberies political kidnappings and bombings Mujica later mentioned that he had never killed anyone but was involved in several violent clashes with police and soldiers and was once shot six times Uruguay's defense forces gained the upper hand over the Tupamaros by the time the military swept to power in a coup marking the start of a -year dictatorship in which about people were kidnapped and killed Thousands more were jailed and tortured Mujica spent almost years behind bars numerous in solitary confinement lying at the bottom of an old horse trough with only ants for company He managed to escape twice once by tunneling into a nearby house His biggest vice as he approached he later stated was talking to himself alluding to his time in isolation When democracy was restored to the farming country of roughly million people in Mujica was published and returned to politics gradually becoming a prominent figure on the left He served as agriculture minister in the center-left coalition of his predecessor President Tabar V zquez who would go on to succeed him from to Mujica's backing base was on the left but he maintained a fluid dialogue with opponents within the center-right inviting them to traditional barbecues at his home We can't pretend to agree on everything We have to agree with what there is not with what we like he explained He assumed drugs should be decriminalized under strict state control and addiction addressed I do not defend drug use But I can't defend a ban because now we have two problems drug addiction which is a condition and narcotrafficking which is worse he stated In retirement he remained resolutely optimistic I want to convey to all the young people that life is beautiful but it wears out and you fall he disclosed following a cancer identification The point is to start over every time you fall and if there is anger transform it into hope