"President, activist, guide, and leader. We will miss you enormously, old friend", writes the country's current president Yamandu Orsi on X.
Mujica – with a background as a bank robber and leader within the violent left-wing guerrilla Tupamaros – was called the poorest president during his time in office 2010–2015. It was due to his Spartan lifestyle, where he donated most of his salary to charity.
Under Mujica's progressive leadership, Uruguay was liberalized with abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and legalization of marijuana.
In May last year, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. After the disease had spread, his wife Lucía Topolansky announced that he was receiving palliative care.
The time in the guerrilla gave him 13 years in prison during the 1970s and 1980s – which in turn led him to adopt a simpler, more philosophical lifestyle.
We were imprisoned and alone, so to survive, we had to think and rethink, he said in a Netflix documentary about his life.
