Uruguay's Jose Mujica: The world's humblest head of state

Jose "Pepe" Mujica, a guerrilla fighter who became Uruguay's president, has died. He became known as the "World's Poorest President" for his humble lifestyle.

Jose Mujica, widely known by his nickname, "Pepe," was beloved for his modesty and progressive social reforms. 

At the height of his political career as president of Uruguay, Mujica's monthly salary was $12,500 (€7,200) — but he only drew one-tenth of it.

The rest he gave away.

$1,250 was "more than enough," said Mujica, who would usually drive himself around in his pale-blue VW Beetle, which he refused to sell even when offered $1 million for it.

This farmer from the west of the capital, Montevideo, never anticipated that he would one day achieve such popularity — and it was probably never his goal.

He told DW back in 2015, just before the end of his presidency, that he was a political animal.

"I've been in politics since I was 14 years old," he said. "And if I don't lose my wits, I'll continue in politics until they carry me out feet first." 

Political underground to solitary confinement

Jose Mujica was born in Montevideo in 1935 to a farming family of Basque and Italian origin.

Their circumstances were modest: Mujica was five when his father died, and he and his sister worked on the family flower farm from an early age.

He did go to school, though, and went on to study law, later dropping out as he became increasingly involved in the student movement.

Before long, Mujica and others founded the urban guerrilla group known as the Tupamaros. At the time, the early 1960s, there was mass unemployment in Uruguay.

Mujica dreamed of "a society without social classes." To this end, he and the Tupamaros robbed banks, kidnapped politicians and planted bombs.

Mujica always claimed that he had never killed anyone.

"We were naive, but one should not lose sight of one's goal," Mujica once said in an interview with DW.

His goals landed him in prison. He was convicted of murdering a police officer after a shootout with the police in 1971 and spent 14 years in prison, where he spent time in solitary confinement and was tortured.

Mujica later described this phase of life as "routine for those who decide to change the world," adding that he had a great deal of time to get to know himself during his time in prison.

From solitary confinement to the presidency

From 1973 to 1985, Uruguay was under a military dictatorship.

When this came to an end, an amnesty law was passed under which saw Mujica and other political prisoners freed.

He and his future wife, Lucía Topolansky, a fellow Tupamara released at the same time, moved to a small farm where they sold tomatoes and chrysanthemums and engaged in political activity.

The Tupamaros evolved into the left-wing political party Movimiento de Participación Popular (Movement of Popular Participation, or MPP), and 10 years after his release from prison, Mujica was elected as a member of parliament.

A popular story relates that, on his first day, he traveled to parliament by moped. The porter, mistaking him for a courier, asked, "Are you staying long?" and Mujica replied, "I hope so."

His hopes were fulfilled. In 2005, for the first time in its history, Uruguay elected a socialist president: Tabare Vazquez, the leader of the left-wing coalition Frente Amplio (Broad Front). He appointed Jose Mujica as his minister of agriculture.

Five years later, in 2010, Mujica was elected president with 52% of the vote.

Authenticity the trump card

Even in the highest office of the state, Mujica remained true to himself. He often appeared at Cabinet meetings wearing a cardigan, sandals and an old pair of trousers. He never wore a tie, not even on official occasions. He did wear a three-piece suit as a guest at the White House in 2014, but it was slightly too short.

In spite of this — or perhaps because of it — his host Barack Obama, US president at the time, described him as having "extraordinary credibility."

The renowned Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano once said of his Mujica: "He's a plain man. People recognize themselves in him, which is why he inspires such enthusiasm and hope."

Uruguaya's experiment

As president, Mujica, an avowed atheist, turned the country upside down. He legalized gay marriage and abortion, a move that was well ahead of the prevailing times in Latin America.

In Mujica's logic, this act was neither leftist nor liberal. "The world has to accept certain things that are unalterable," he said.

His socioeconomic policies were also a success. Under his leadership, unemployment, poverty and infant mortality all decreased.

His most controversial project was probably the deregulation of cannabis for recreational purposes. Mujica believed that this was something that could be tested in a small country like Uruguay.

But he wasn't able to implement all of his plans. His much-trumpeted education reform fell by the wayside, as did major infrastructure projects. He also had to deal with accusations from fellow leftists that he cozied up to major corporations on issues around agriculture and natural resources.

A completely atypical politician

Nevertheless, because of his modest style, Mujica — unlike so many other Latin American heads of state — was generally deemed to be above suspicion of corruption.

His approachability and pragmatism were probably also why he was excused many a verbal slip, such as when he called FIFA officials "a bunch of old sons of bitches" after his national team was knocked out of the World Cup.

After the end of his presidency in 2015, Mujica mediated in the peace negotiations between the Colombian government and that country's FARC guerrillas in Cuba the following year.

He continued to contribute to political debate until shortly beforehis death in May 2025 from cancer, at the age of 89.

Mujica would also comment on current political issues on DW's Spanish service, where he had a special program entitled "Conciencia Sur" ("The conscience of the South"). He liked to receive journalists in the garden or study of his little house with the peeling facade.

Jose "Pepe" Mujica was an atypical politician. By living as he did, he set an example for a new political culture.

But he always refused to regard himself as poor. One of his most famous sayings was: "It is not the man who has little, but the man who craves more, who is poor."

This article was originally published in German.