MONTEVIDEO: Tributes poured in from across Latin America on Tuesday following the death of Uruguay’s former president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics.

The iconic 89-year-old — who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity — lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment.

“With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguay’s current president, Yamandu Orsi, posted on X.

“Pepe, eternal!” a cyclist shouted out minutes later, while passing government buildings.

The 89-year-old ex-president of Uruguay died after losing his fight against cancer

Mujica earned the moniker “world’s poorest president” during his 2010-2015 presidency for giving away much of his salary to charity and living a simple life on his farm, with his fellow ex-guerrilla wife and three-legged dog.

The government announced three days of national mourning and said his body would be taken to the legislative palace on Wednesday to lie in state.

Activists from Mujica’s Movement of Popular Participation (MPP) gathered outside the party’s headquarters to make giant banners marked “Hasta siempre, viejo querido” (Until forever, old friend).

Leftist leaders from across Latin America and Europe paid tribute to the man described by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as an “example for Latin America and the entire world.” At the Madison, an unassuming corner cafe in central Montevideo, waiter Walter Larus recalled Mujica popping in for a steak shortly after winning office.

“He felt and lived like ordinary people, not like today’s politicians who seem rich,” the 53-year-old waiter said.

In a 2012 interview taken by the agency, Mujica denied being poor, saying his was, rather, a life of “austerity.” “I need little to live,” he said. He transformed Uruguay, a prosperous country of 3.4 million people best known for football and ranching, into one of Latin Ame­rica’s most progressive societies.

In later life, he was disappointed at the authoritarian drift of some left-wing governments, accusing repressive leaders in Venezuela and Nicaragua of “messing things up.”

He was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in May last year, and it spread to his liver. His wife Lucia Topolansky said this week he was receiving palliative care.

‘Humility and greatness’

Over the course of five years in power, Mujica legalised abortion and gay marriage and made Uruguay the first country to legalise the use of recreational cannabis. He continued to campaign for the left after his cancer diagnosis, working fervently on the successful election campaign of history teacher Orsi, his political heir.

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales hailed his “experience and wisdom,” while Brazil’s government bid farewell to “one of the most important humanists of our time.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Mujica had lived for “a better world,” while Guatemala’s Bernardo Arevalo held him up as “an example of humility and greatness.”

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2025