José Mujica
José Mujica | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mujica in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 40th President of Uruguay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 March 2010 – 1 March 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vice President | Danilo Astori | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Tabaré Vázquez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Tabaré Vázquez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | José Alberto Mujica Cordano 20 May 1935 Montevideo, Uruguay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 13 May 2025 (aged 89) Montevideo, Uruguay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | Mujica farmhouse, Rincón del Cerro, Montevideo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | MPP (from 1989) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (20 May 1935 – 13 May 2025) was a Uruguayan politician, revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and imprisoned for 14 years during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. A member of the Broad Front coalition of left-wing parties, Mujica was the minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 and a senator afterwards. As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as president on 1 March 2010.
Mujica's administration implemented a range of progressive policies, including the decriminalization of abortion, the legalization of marijuana consumption and the legalization of same-sex marriage. Additional measures strengthened the country's trade unions and significantly bolstered minimum wages.
While in office, Mujica was described as being "the world's poorest president" due to his austere lifestyle and his donation of around 90 percent of his US$12,000 monthly salary to charities that support low-income individuals and small entrepreneurs. He was an outspoken critic of capitalism's focus on stockpiling material possessions which do not contribute to human happiness.