The
international media dubbed Uruguay’s 79-year-old President José Mujica Cordano
the “poorest president in the world” after it was reported that the Latin
American leader donates 90 percent of his monthly salary of $12,500 to
charity — specifically, those that help house the homeless — leaving him with
about $1,250 to spend on himself.
He lives
on a farm, and his official car is a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle. He donates 90% of
his monthly salary to charity. Now, a formal President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica,
is not your average president.
Before
Mujica was elected president of Uruguay in 2009, the world may not have known a
great deal about
Around
the globe, human rights groups have expressed support for the Uruguayan leader,
encouraging other leaders to follow in his footsteps, as have celebrities such
as actors Sean Penn and Glenn Close and the members of the band Aerosmith.
From prisoner to president
The 79-year-old knows about the pain and sacrifice
from war all too well. Inspired by the success of the Cuban Revolution, Mujica
helped found a leftist guerrilla movement in Uruguay known as the National Liberation Movement (Movimiento de Liberación) in the early 1960s. Also known as
the Tupamaros, the group’s goal was to take down the conservative government
that was in power at the time.
“They stole food trucks and then distributed the
goods in the slums,”. “They attacked government facilities like the national
Naval Academy … and without firing a shot, stole every gun, every vehicle in
there, and left some smart propaganda banners.”
The Tupamaros were “rather
obsessed with the idea of shocking middle-class values,” which was sometimes
achieved by forcing cinema-goers to watch slideshows at gunpoint that detailed
the acts of injustice committed by the conservative government that was in
power at the time.
While Mujica was involved in guerrilla actions, he
was “never one of the most radical, action-prone Tupamaros.” Mujica was not
involved in the decision-making processes and was not part of the
terrorist-like activity, but that was partly because Mujica was in the hospital
and then in prison.
During his 14 years at the bottom of a well, Mujica
may never have imagined that he would become someone that people the world over
would declare a true leader. But the Uruguayan leader appears to have come to
terms with the power his influence carries for people across the globe.
Mujica has said that when he attends summits with
other world leaders, they often tell him that he’s on the right track. The
Uruguayan president says he finds this frustrating because these same leaders
often don’t join him in his push to respect human life.
He was more concerned about the health
and well-being of his people than money during his tenure, there seems to be
hope shared among people around the globe that they, too, might find a leader
who, like Mujica, isn't driven by power, fame or wealth, but by what’s truly
best for their nation and the global community.
An Arab sheikh offered $1 million for the
car during the G77 summit in Bolivia this June, the president told a news
conference in Montevideo: "That's what they said to me, but I didn't give
it any importance."
Mexico's
ambassador to Uruguay, Felipe Enriquez, recently suggested at an informal chat
that Mujica could fetch a great return for the car at auction. He said he would
be willing to swap 10 four-wheel drive pickups for the blue Bug, telling
Busqueda that he made the offer as a "profound admirer of President
Mujica, his heritage, his human values, his real solidarity with those most in
need, to whom he gives most of his salary as head of state."
HISTORY AND LESSONS FOR THE YOUTH OF TODAY AND TOMORROW, LET'S WORK HARD FOR A BETTER FUTURE.
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