The remains of the ex -president departed at 10 am local from the Executive Tower of the Uruguayan capital, in a cure – transport similar to a cart, used in funeral honors ceremonies -, Six army horses.
He coffin marched covered by a Uruguayan flagplaced by the current president, Yamandú Orsi, and by the flag of the Uruguayan hero José Artigas.
Orsi and Mujica’s wife Lucía Topolansky, led the funeral courtship that It started from the headquarters of the Presidency bound for the Legislative Palace.
The courtship advanced guarded by Two laces of militants of the Popular Participation Movement (MPP), historical sector of the Frente Amplio founded by the ex -president.
Another group of militants marched in front of the cure, dressed in black and with t -shirts with the legend “I’m not leaving, I’m coming”pronounced by Mujica on March 1, 2015, leaving the presidency of the country after five years of mandate.
The attendees, many visibly excited, cheered Mujica in their path, They applauded incessantly and fired him with songs And posters with messages like “Pepe, friend, the people are with you” or “The people, united, will never be defeated.”
At the stop at the headquarters of the Frente Amplio, the Secretary of the Presidency, Alejandro Sánchez, delivered a speech in which he said: “The sowing of the old man now became thousands.”
“Pepe, you didn’t leave, now there are thousands of Pepe Mujica. Thank you, old man, ”he added to a great ovation of the militants, and concluded:“ Long live the Uruguayan people, for which Pepe left everything! Let’s go up, the fight continues. ”
In the Legislative Palace was expected by President Orsi and other members of the Executive. There will be held its wake from 15 hours local.
The ceremony will take place in the loss hall, will be accessible to the public in general and will extend for at least 24 hours.
The Government He decreed three days of official mourning.
Thank you pic.twitter.com/nfbers2etj
– Yamandú Orsi (@orsiyamandu) May 13, 2025
Death of José Mujica
FormerGuerrillero and culturer of an austere lifestyle, according to his anticonsumist speech, José Mujica fulfilled his will when he died in his modest house of the periphery of Montevideo, accompanied by his wife and former vice president Uruguayan, Lucía Topolansky.
She had advanced days before Mujica The terminal stage of a esophagus cancer was traveling diagnosed in 2024, which had made metastasis.
“With deep pain we communicated that our partner Pepe Mujica died. President, militant, reference and driver. We are going to surprise you a lot, dear old. Thank you for everything you gave us and for your deep love for your people, ”President Yamandú Orsi announced in his X account.
On April 29, 2024, Mujica announced at a press conference that I had a tumor in the esophagus. Shortly after he revealed that he was malignant and that he should be treated with radiotherapy, a procedure to which he was subjected in Montevideo.
At the beginning of 2025, the former president reported in an interview with the local weekly Search that Cancer had expanded to the liver.
Dismissed by Latin American leaders
The departure of “Poor president in the world”as international headlines defined it, unleashed a wave of messages from Latin American leaders and referents of the international left.
Lula, his great friend and regional ally, highlighted “his human greatness.”
“The wisdom of his words formed a true song of unity and fraternity for Latin America,” wrote the Brazilian president from Beijing, where a state visit culminates.
Amanheci em pequim com a sad noticia that Pepe Mujica Partiu Hoje, we deixed cheios of sadness, more also of very apprentice. Sua life foi um exemployment that luta politics ea doçura podem walk together. And that at Coragem ea força podem vir accompananhadas da… pic.twitter.com/xdzjta2buw
– Lula (@lulaoficial) May 14, 2025
The Brazilian, who cultivated a great closeness with Mujica, gave him in December the maximum award of his country in a ceremony in Montevideo with the Colombian president Gustavo Petro.
Lula announced that he will travel to the Uruguayan capital to fire him.
For his part, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, who used to express his admiration and visited him in February, did not spare praise.
“Pepe dear, I imagine you are worried about the bitter salad that is today in the world. But if you left us, it was the incombustible hope that it is possible to do things better,” said Boric.
Pepe dear, I imagine you are worried about the bitter salad that is today in the world. But if you left us something, it was the incombustible hope that it is possible to do things better -“step by step not to break down” as you told us-, and the unnegotible conviction …
– Gabriel Boric Font (@gabrielboric) May 13, 2025
In a more formal tone, Argentine former president Cristina Kirchner, with whom Mujica had disagreements, said that “Latin America dismisses a great man who dedicated his life to militancy and his homeland.”
On the other side of the ocean, the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, stressed that the Uruguayan believed in “A better world”.
Life and presidency, out of script
During his term (2010-2015), the former guerrilla broke the schemes of his predecessors.
To his flat speech, campechano style and away from the protocol, the leftist added reforms and decisions that marked the country of 3.4 million inhabitants.
The most novel was the impulse to Legalization of marijuanawith an unprecedented plan that put the State in charge of the production and marketing of cannabis.
He also made controversial decisions, such as receive prisoners from Guantanamo At the request of the United States, already Syrian refugees.
That answering spirit led, in his youth, to be one of the leaders of the Urban Guerrillas National Liberation Movement (MLN-T), already endure 13 years in prison in subhuman conditions during the dictatorship.
Mujica militated until his last days for the left, while vehemently defending the Latin American unity.
