"All of Latin America is in mourning“. With these words the former Bolivian president Evo Morales It sums up the state of mind of an entire continent when faced with the news of the death of a friend José Mujica, president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 and a key figure for left-wing groups across the planet in recent decades. Mujica was 89 years old and suffering from cancer, his condition had worsened in recent days. The legacy of the former Tupamaros guerrilla, who also spent 12 years in prison during the dictatorship in his country in the 60s of the last century, actually goes well beyond the borders of South America: the Uruguayan socialist leader has inspired entire generations all over the world with his vvision of existence, even more than his convincing political commitment. Friend and advisor of all great south american leaders of the last decades, from the Brazilian Squid (who, shocked, is returning from China to attend the funeral) to the Chilean Gabriel boric passing through Venezuelan Hugo Chavez and Mexican claudia sheinbaum, Mujica was a quiet and peaceful, but highly effective revolutionary, who with few words and many actions achieved Uruguay's economic miracle from 2010 to today.
Pepe Mujica: A Model of Humanity and Progress
During his government, the small country with capital Montevideo It was not only a fascinating laboratory of civil rights but it became one of the wealthiest countries in South America: thepoverty rate went from 40% to less than 8%, with the sincreased average wage by 55%, GDP growing by an average of 4% per year, and the number of people with medical coverage rising from 700.000 to 2,5 million, practically the entire population. But Pepe was not only interested in this. “It is time that economic growth is no longer the only yardstick by which we measure human life. We must begin to reflect on the paradigms that have to do with human happiness“, is one of his most appreciated and repeated quotes. In a note, the Brazilian government of his great friend Lula (who a few months ago awarded him the medal of the Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul, the highest honor of the Republic of Brazil), recognized him as having been “one of the main architects of theintegration between South America and Latin America and, above all, one of the most important humanists of our time. His commitment to building a more just international order, democratic and supportive, is an example for everyone."
Mujica he had long since retired from political life ed he had gone back to being a farmer, settling for a minimal pension. His speech at the United Nations in 2013 will remain in history, when he drew the attention of the assembly with his request to humanity not to let yourself be seduced by consumerism, “which contaminates the environment and creates an extra need in people to have the newest car, the newest cell phone, the newest radio.” And maybe it’s time we really realized this.
