They called him the world’s poorest, or humblest, president.
He was often seen driving himself in his 1987 baby blue VW bug.
Memes have gone viral recently showing him giving Noam Chomsky a ride.
He lived on a farm.
His clothes were simple.
So were his words and his actions.
Yet he created tremendous change and left an indelible mark on the tiny country of Uruguay and the entire region of Latin America.
When Pepe Mujica passed, tens of thousands of supporters arrived to pay their respects.
As his body was driven through the streets, huge crowds lined the sides of the road and applauded. Others marched alongside his coffin, which was draped with the flags of Uruguay and his party, Frente Amplio.
He was cremated, as he had requested. His ashes were scattered beneath a tree on his farm.
Pepe Mujica was an extraordinary person.
He showed that anyone could become president.
Even elderly farmers,
Former guerrilla fighters,
Former political prisoners.
“They say I’m a poor president. No, I’m not a poor president,” he said in an interview several years ago. “The poor people are the ones that always want more. Because they are always on an infinite race. They don’t have time to live.”
When he spoke, he did so with the wisdom of someone who had fought,
Faced the worst,
Seen it all,
And still believed in humanity,
And in political struggle,
And the possibility of change…
Late last year, during the 2024 electoral campaign, he said goodbye on stage.
“I’m an old man who is very close to beginning a journey from which you do not return,” he told a packed crowd of supporters. “But I am happy, because you are here. Because when my arms go, there will be thousands of arms lifting up this struggle and all of my life, I always said that the best leaders are those that leave a group of people that is even greater than themselves. And there you are!”
Pepe Mujica led Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, with the leftist coalition Frente Amplio.
His was one of the most progressive governments in the country’s history.
Mujica helped to lift thousands out of poverty.
Inequality reached a record low in Uruguay.
Unemployment dropped below 7%.
Same-sex marriage was legalized, as was abortion and marajuana.
When he left office, he had an approval rating close to 70%.
During his speech at the UN under his presidency, he said, “We have the necessary resources to ensure that everyone on the planet can live with dignity, but they are in the predatory waste of our civilization.”
Mujica had come a long way.
In the mid-1960s, Mujica had joined the urban guerrilla movement, the Tupamaros, to fight against the country’s authoritarian government.
Government repression was on the rise.
Within a few years, the government would suspend rights and constitutional guarantees.
The Tupamaros and Pepe Mujica fought back.
In 1970, Mujica was shot by police six times and nearly died.
He was arrested. Escaped. Arrested again. Escaped again.
And finally, in 1972, he was arrested for good.
He would spend the next 13 years in jail.
The entirety of the country’s military dictatorship.
He was tortured. Continuously.
And held in inhumane conditions.
Most of his time in jail he spent in solitary confinement.
But Mujica survived. He continued.
For the military and conservatives, he represented all that was wrong in the country.
For everyone else, he was a hero.
When he was released in 1985, he dove back into politics.
He was elected congressman.
Then senator.
Then appointed to be a minister.
Mujica’s resolve against such great odds would lead him to the presidency, and into the hearts of people across Uruguay and the world.
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Today would have been the 90th birthday of Pepe Mujica.
He passed just last week, on May 13, 2025, after a battle with cancer.
In his final months, he was busy saying goodbye to old friends, and even traveling to meet with the new generations of activists in his political party.
On the day of Pepe Mujica’s funeral, people held many signs in his honor in the streets. One of them read:
“Your legacy will endure.”
José “Pepe” Mujica was a former political prisoner who suffered more than a decade of prison and torture under Uruguay’s military dictatorship. He rose to become the country’s president from 2010 through 2015.
They called him the world’s humblest president. He was often seen driving himself in his 1987 baby blue VW bug. He lived on a farm. His clothes were simple. So were his words and his actions. Yet he created tremendous change and left an indelible mark on the tiny country of Uruguay and the entire region of Latin America.
This is episode 36 of Stories of Resistance—a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange’s Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.
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Written and produced by Michael Fox.
Resources
Below are some excellent videos in Spanish:
Las frases más memorables de Mujica
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PEPE MUJICA se despide por sorpresa: “Hasta siempre, les doy mi corazón”
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Here is a video of people staying goodbye to Mujica on the streets of Uruguay.
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