Jose Mujica, a guerrilla and later Uruguayan president, drove a beating Volkswagen Beetle and enacted progressive reforms that brought his reputation far beyond South America at the age of 89.

The outspoken Mujica, whose nickname "Pepe" is known for many Uruguayans, led the left-wing government of the small agricultural country from 2010 to 2015 after persuading the radical past of voters.

Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica announces diagnosis of esophageal cancer

President Yamandu Orsi said in an article on X: “We are sad to announce the death of our comrade Pepe Mujica.

As president, Mujica adopted the groundbreaking liberal position of issues related to civil liberties at the time. He signed a law that allows homosexual marriage and abortion in the early stages of pregnancy and supports proposals to legalize marijuana sales. Gay marriage and abortion measures are a big shift for Catholic Latin America, with marijuana moves almost unprecedented globally.

Regional leaders, including left-wing presidents in Brazil, Chile and Mexico, mourned Muika's death and praised his role model.

"He defended democracy like everyone else. He never stopped advocating social justice and the end of all inequality," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio lula da Silva. He added that Mujika's "greatness transcends Uruguay's borders and his presidency".

During his tenure, Mujica refused to move to the presidential residence and chose to stay in his humble home, where he kept a small flower farm in the outskirts of the capital Montevideo.

Avoiding a formal suit and tie, it is common for him to drive around the Beetles or eat in a restaurant where office staff have lunch.

In a May 2024 interview with Reuters at Sif House, Mujica shared the tin house with his wife, former Senator Lucia Topolansky, who said he had retained the old beetle and was still in a "stunning" state.

However, he added that he prefers to turn to tractors, saying it is "more fun" than cars and is a place where "you have time to think."

Critics question Mujica's tendency to break the deal, and his bluntness and occasional remarks sometimes force him to explain himself under pressure from his opponents and political allies.

But it was his down-to-earth style and progressive contemplation that made him love many Uruguayans.

"The problem is that the world is run by the elderly and they forget what they were like when they were young," Mujika said in an interview in 2024.

Mujica was only 74 years old when she was president. Despite some voters' concerns about their age and his as one of the leaders of the Tupamaros Rebel Group, he was elected with 52% of the vote.

Lucia Topolansky is a long-time partner of the Holy Hall, dating back to their time in Tupamaros. The couple married in 2005 and served as vice president from 2017-2020.

After leaving the office, they remained politically active, regularly attended the inauguration of the Latin American president and provided important support for Uruguay candidates, including Orsi in March 2025, who stopped off work on the small roof.

Behind the bar

Jose Mujica's birth certificate records him in 1935, despite his claim to be errors and that he was actually born a year ago. He once described his form of growth as "dignified poverty."

Mujica's father died when he was 9 or 10 years old, and as a child he helped his mother maintain their farm where they grow flowers, chickens and a few cows.

When Muika was interested in politics, the Uruguay left was weak and broken, and he began his political career with a progressive sect of the Central Nation Party.

In the late 1960s, he joined the Marxist Tupamaros guerrillas, a movement that attempted to undermine the conservative government of Uruguay through robbery, political abduction and bombings.

Muika later said that he never killed anyone, but had several violent clashes with police and soldiers, and had been shot and killed six times.

Uruguayan security forces prevailed in Tupamaros when the military swept the military to power in a 1973 coup, marking the beginning of a 12-year dictatorship in which about 200 people were kidnapped and killed. Thousands of people have been sentenced to jail and torture.

Mujica spent nearly 15 years in prison, many of whom were detained alone, located at the bottom of an old manger with only ants as the company. He managed to escape twice, once the tunnel drove into a nearby house. He later said that when he approached 90, his biggest "bad habit" was talking to himself, suggesting his time.

In 1985, when democracy was restored to an agricultural country of about 3 million people, Muika was released and restored to politics, gradually becoming an outstanding figure in the left.

He served as Minister of Agriculture in the Central Alliance of his predecessor President Tabaré Vázquez, who will succeed him from 2015 to 2020.

Mujica's support base is on the left, but he maintains a smooth conversation with his center-right opponents, inviting them to the traditional barbecue at his home.

"We can't pretend to agree on everything. We have to agree with what we like, not what we like."

He believes that drugs should be legitimized “under strict national control” and addiction should be addressed.

"I don't defend drug use. But I can't defend (ban) because now we have two problems: drug addiction, it's a disease and anesthesia, and that's worse."

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He remained firmly optimistic when he retired.

After the cancer diagnosis, he said: “I want to convey life to all young people, but it’s exhausted and you’re falling.”

“The key is to start over every time you fall and if there is anger, turn it into hope.”