Fmr. -Uruguayan leader Jose Mujica, referred to as the “World’s poorest president” dies at 89

Uruguay’s former president Jose Mujica, known as “the world’s poorest president,” has died at the age of 89.

Yamandu Orsi, Uruguay’s President announced Mujica’s death on social media on Tuesday. He announced on X: “thank you for everything you gave us and for your deep love for your people.”

He was often seen driving his light blue 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and gave away a large portion of his salary. led some media outlets to call him “the world’s poorest president”.

But Mujica always rejected that title: “They say I’m the poorest president. No, I’m not,” he told me in a 2012 interview at his home. “Poor are those who want more […] because they’re in an endless race.”

In 2024, Mujica announced he had cancer and references to his age and the inexorable proximity of death became more frequent – but he always accepted the final outcome as something natural, without drama. Recent media reports said he was in the terminal stage and received treatment focusing on easing pain and anxiety.

Mujica was born to a poor family in 1935. He became an anti-government guerilla fighter in his 20s and was jailed for a total of more than 10 years under the military government.

After Uruguay became democratic, he served as a leftist lawmaker from the 1990s. He became the country’s president in 2010 and stayed in office for five years.

During his administration, amid a fairly favourable international context, the Uruguayan economy grew at an average annual rate of 5.4%, poverty was reduced, and unemployment remained low.

Uruguay also drew global attention for the social laws passed by parliament during those years, such as the legalisation of abortion, the recognition of same-sex marriage, and state regulation of the marijuana market.

While in office, Mujica rejected moving into the presidential residence (a mansion), as heads of state around the world usually do.

Instead, he remained with his wife – politician and former guerrilla Lucía Topolansky – in their modest home on the outskirts of Montevideo, with no domestic help and little security.

But unlike other leaders in the region, he was never accused of corruption or of undermining his country’s democracy.

By the end of his administration, Mujica had a high domestic popularity rating (close to 70%) and was elected senator, but also spent part of his time travelling the world after he stepped down as president.

“So, what it is that catches the world’s attention? That I live with very little, a simple house, that I drive around in an old car? Then this world is crazy because it’s surprised by [what is] normal,” he reflected before leaving office.

Mujica retired from politics in 2020 though he remained a central figure in Uruguay and continues to live on his farm as he did during his tenure as president. His frugal lifestyle established his popularity in the country.