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Latin America in Mourning: International Figures Pay Tribute to Pepe Mujica

He was shot six times, survived on 12 liters of donated blood, and crawled back to life. He spent 14 years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, in a hole so small he could barely stand.

To keep his mind intact, he tamed frogs and fed mice. Yet, when he emerged, he did not seek revenge—he sought change.

José Alberto Mujica Cordano, known to the world as Pepe Mujica, was not just a former president of Uruguay.

He was a living lesson in resilience, humility, and the radical idea that politics should serve the people, not power.

Latin America grieves the loss of not only a leader but also a symbol of hope for the marginalized during the week of his passing at the age of 89, demonstrating that a different world could exist.

From the Flower Farms to the Guerrilla

Born in 1935 in Paso de la Arena, a rural neighborhood on the outskirts of Montevideo, Pepe’s life was marked by hardship from the start.

His father, a small rancher, died in poverty when Pepe was only six. By 14, he was already working in the fields and protesting for workers’ rights. The injustice he witnessed as a boy would shape his destiny.

In the 1960s, inspired by the Cuban Revolution and socialist ideals, Pepe joined the Tupamaros, an urban guerrilla movement fighting Uruguay’s increasingly authoritarian government.

The Tupamaros robbed banks to redistribute wealth, kidnapped corrupt politicians, and became symbols of resistance. Mujica was captured four times.

Once, in 1970, he was shot six times and left for dead, only to be saved by a blood transfusion.

His most legendary escape came in 1971, when he and 105 other prisoners tunneled out of Punta Carretas prison, on Montevideo, an audacious feat that became a symbol of defiance.

But the military dictatorship that seized power in 1973 made him one of its “nine hostages”, prisoners who would be executed if the guerrillas struck again. For years, he endured torture and isolation. Yet, he refused to play the victim.

“I am not one to talk about torture and how badly I suffered,” he once said. “In fact, it even annoys me because I have seen a kind of race measured by a ‘torture meter.’ People who take pleasure in repeating, ‘Oh, how badly I suffered.’”

From Prisoner to President: The Unlikely Rise

When democracy returned to Uruguay in 1985, Pepe Mujica emerged not as a hardened revolutionary seeking vengeance, but as a man who had learned patience.

He entered politics, first as a deputy, then a senator, and finally, in 2010, as president at 74.

His election marked a turning point for Latin America’s left. Alongside Lula da Silva in Brazil and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Mujica became a voice for the marginalized. But unlike other leaders, he rejected luxury.

He refused to live in the presidential palace, staying instead in his modest farmhouse with his wife, fellow ex-guerrilla Lucia Topolansky, growing flowers and driving his old Volkswagen Beetle.

“I believe that politicians should live like the majority of their people, not like the privileged minority,” he said.

Under his government, Uruguay became the first country to legalize marijuana, not as a libertine experiment, but as a way to dismantle drug cartels.

He pushed for same-sex marriage, abortion rights, and renewable energy, proving that progressive policies could work even in a conservative region.

The Legacy of Pepe: A Man Who Lived What He Preached

Mujica was often called “the world’s poorest president”, a label he rejected.

“I’m called ‘the poorest president,’ but I don’t feel poor,” he said. “Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle and always want more and more.”

His philosophy was simple: freedom is not wealth, but time, time to love, to think, to fight for what matters.

In a world obsessed with consumerism, Mujica’s life was a protest. He donated 90% of his salary to charity, lived without extravagance, and measured success not in GDP, but in human happiness.

A Revolution That Lives On

As tributes pour in from across the globe, it is not just his policies that will be remembered, it is his words, sharp as a machete, cutting through hypocrisy:

• “A lot of people like a lot of money. They shouldn’t go into politics.”
• “No, power doesn’t change people, it only reveals who they really are.”
• “In the end, there is no defeat, only those who stop fighting suffer defeat.”
• “Being free is spending time on what we like.”

Pepe Mujica did not just leave behind a political legacy. He left a question: What kind of life is truly worth living?

And in his answer, a life of struggle, simplicity, and unwavering love for the people. He became immortal.

“Dreams must be fought for so that they become less dreams and more reality.”

Rest in power, Pepe. The fight continues.

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