Spanish
This May 13, 2025, will be etched in the history of Latin America as the day one of its greatest ethical and political figures departed: José “Pepe” Mujica. Former President of Uruguay, former senator, guerrilla, political prisoner, farmer, everyday philosopher and, above all, an upright man who always chose to live with what was fair so as not to mortgage his freedom.
From his combative youth in the National Liberation Movement-Tupamaros, to his presidency between 2010 and 2015, Mujica embodied the coherence between words and deeds. He governed with the moral authority that only the suffering lived with dignity gives —after spending more than a decade imprisoned in inhumane conditions— and the renunciation of ego in favor of greater causes.
Unlike so many leaders trapped by the privileges of power, Mujica lived in a modest farmhouse, donated most of his presidential salary, and turned his personal example into a political statement: that the well-being of the people is not measured in consumption, but in justice, education, and freedom.
He was a speaker without stridency, but with phrases that resonated in the collective consciousness: “Poor are those who need a lot”, “Those who like money a lot should be run out of politics”. He said he was not poor, but “sober”, and his sobriety was revolutionary in a world marked by ostentation.
During his term, Uruguay advanced in progressive social policies, decriminalized abortion, legalized same-sex marriage and marijuana, betting on regulation with a human sense. Mujica did not seek popularity, he sought justice.
His death invites us to reflect on the type of leadership the world needs: one less focused on grandiloquence and more focused on service. One that listens, that lives as it thinks and thinks as it lives. Mujica was that: an uncomfortable mirror for the powerful, but an inspiration for the people.
From this corner of the continent, we bid farewell to Pepe with gratitude and respect. His body rests, but his voice —his example— will continue to challenge us. Because as he used to say: “The impossible costs a little more, and the defeated are only those who give up and surrender”.
Farewell, President Mujica. Your life was, and will continue to be, a trench of hope.
