Jose "Pepe" Mujica is a former leftist rebel who became the president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 at the age of 89.

Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi announced his death in a social media post on Tuesday. Mujica was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2024.

"We announce the death of our comrade Pepe Mujica is deeply saddened," Olsey wrote. "Thank you for everything you have given us, and your deep love for the people."

Mujica leads his country to environmental reforms, legalizing same-sex marriage and abandoning restrictions on marijuana, even beyond idols outside the Uruguay border.

Even during his presidency, he was celebrated for maintaining his simple lifestyle, when he shunned the presidential palace in support of his farmhouse where flowers were planted. He told Al Jazeera in 2022 that such affluence could be "divorced" from their people.

"I believe that politicians should live like most people, not privileged minorities," Mujika explained.

The news of Mujica's death has received tribute from all over the world, especially from the Latin American left.

“We deeply regret the death of our beloved Pepe Mujica, a role model for Latin America and the world as a whole, with his wisdom, vision and simplicity,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, Chilean President Gabriel Boric remembers Mujica's optimism in his position.

"If you leave anything to us, that's impossible, it's hope of doing better," he wrote.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro pays tribute to Mujica, doubles the call for greater cooperation and integration in Latin America.

"Goodbye, friend," Petro wrote after Mujica's death, as he envisioned a more unified region. “I hope Latin America will have a national anthem one day.”

Mujica became a symbol of a generation of political leaders who guided their country from military dictatorship in the second half of the 20th century. Like Petro, Mujica is also a former rebel fighter.

In the 1960s, he was a young man who led armed fighters as part of the left-wing Tupamaros movement, known for robbing banks, taking over towns and even exchanging gunfire with local police.

Muika has been arrested several times and spent nearly a decade in solitary confinement in prison where he was tortured.

The government's crackdown on left-wing fighters paved the way for the 1973 coup, followed by a brutal military dictatorship that caused human rights violations such as enforced disappearances. But in 1985, Uruguay began to transition to democracy, and Mujika and other rebel fighters were released under the amnesty law.

He began to become a force in Uruguayan politics, joining Frente Amplio or the left-wing alliance with other former warriors or the broad front.

After he was elected president at the age of 74, Mujica made progressive positions on civil liberties and social issues, including abortion and homosexual marriage, and even promoted the legalization of marijuana. He also highlighted the development of green energy practices that put Uruguay at the forefront of resolving the climate crisis.

His long-time partner, Lucia Topolansky, also was active during his time with Tupamaros, who served as vice president after marrying in 2005.

While the president, Mujica famously shunned the president's residence and stayed at a flower farm in the outskirts of the capital of Montevedio. He also drove the weathered blue Volkswagen beetle, one of his trademarks. His modest lifestyle has led some to call him "the poorest president in the world."

"We elect the president as if they were candidates to become kings, a person with a court, a red carpet, and had to live in an upscale palace," he said in 2022.

Even after leaving the presidency, Muika remains a prominent public figure, attending the inauguration of political leaders in Latin America and providing support to candidates in Uruguay, including election in 2024.

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

Mujica was told in September 2024 that radiation therapy was effective at targeting esophageal cancer, but doctors reported in January 2025 that the cancer had recovered and spread to his liver.

The former rebel and the president seem not to worry too much.

“Honestly, I’m dying,” Muika said on the weekly busqueda, saying it was his last interview. "The warrior has the right to rest."