José “Pepe” Mujica, former President of Uruguay, passed away Tuesday at 89, leaving a legacy as a powerful, yet humble, revolutionary leader. 

Joining the revolutionary struggle in the late ‘60s alongside the National Liberation Movement—Tupamaros (MLN-T), an urban guerrilla group inspired by the Cuban Revolution, Pepe Mujica faced many arrests and imprisonments (with some successful escapes to boot!), counter-insurgency and surveillance, and attempts on his life. 

Under In 1973–1985, the U.S. unleashed Operation Condor in Latin America. In Uruguay, that meant imposing the regime of Jorge Pacheco Areco, followed by an open military dictatorship.

This state repression was met with militant resistance by the Tupamaros. They would hijack radio station broadcasts, rob food trucks to feed those in the slums of Montevideo, and loot arms and funds in the name of revolutionary struggle.

Mujica and other revolutionaries were held as political prisoners during the 12 years of the Uruguayan Dictatorship in solitary confinement. Those imprisoned were granted amnesty when the dictatorship came to an end in 1985. Several years later, the Tupamaros and other revolutionaries formed the Popular Participation Movement (MPP), joining the Broad Front, a political coalition.

Mujica became president in 2010, working to reduce poverty and promote progressive social poverty and promote progressive social politics like legalizing abortion. Throughout his tenure he maintained his modest lifestyle, refusing to move into the presidential palace. Dedicated to improving housing conditions across Uruguay, especially for those in the toughest of circumstances, he would donate of 90% of his monthly salary to support this endeavor.

Having never moved into the presidential palace, Mujica lived and worked on a farm on the outskirts of the capital with his wife, where they cultivated chrysanthemums for sale. The light blue VW bug he used to get around became an icon; Pepe Mujica did not just speak to the detriment of capitalism, but embodied a lifestyle contrary to such.

Latin America, and the world, has lost a beloved and admirable revolutionary, but as Pepe himself once said, “the best leaders are those that when they leave, leave behind a group of people that surpass them greatly.” 

¡Pepe Mujica, presente!