Jose Mujica, Uruguay's former leader, rebel icon and cannabis reformer, dead at 89


FILE PHOTO: Uruguay's former President Jose "Pepe" Mujica looks on during an event marking 40 years of democracy, in Montevideo, Uruguay, March 27, 2025. REUTERS/Martin Varela/File Photo

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Jose Mujica, a one-time guerrilla and later president of Uruguay who drove a beat-up VW Beetle and enacted progressive reforms that carried his reputation well beyond South America, has died aged 89.

The straight-talking Mujica, known to many Uruguayans by his nickname "Pepe," led the small farming country's leftist government from 2010 to 2015 after convincing voters his radical past was a closed chapter.

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