Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a former leftist rebel who became Uruguay’s president from 2010 to 2015, has died at the age of 89.
Mujica became an icon even beyond Uruguay’s borders, as he led his country to pursue environmental reforms, legalize same-sex marriage and loosen restrictions on marijuana.
He also was celebrated for maintaining his simple lifestyle even during his presidency, when he eschewed the presidential palace in favor of the farmhouse where he grew flowers.
Mujica became a symbol to a generation of political leaders helping to steer their countries out of military dictatorships during the latter half of the 20th century. As a young man in the 1960s, he led armed fighters as part of the far-left Tupamaros movement.
Mujica was arrested multiple times and spent nearly a decade in solitary confinement, in a prison where he endured torture.
A government crackdown on the left-wing fighters helped pave the way for a coup in 1973, followed by a brutal military dictatorship that perpetrated human rights abuses like forced disappearances. But in 1985, Uruguay began its transition to democracy, and Mujica and other rebel fighters were released under an amnesty law.
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