Uruguay’s Former President Jose Mujica Reveals Esophageal Cancer Diagnosis
Jose Mujica, the former guerilla-turned-president of Uruguay who is widely regarded as a leftist icon and transformed his small country into one of the most socially liberal in Latin America during his tenure from 2010 to 2015, has announced that he has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Mujica revealed this news on Monday after undergoing routine medical checks last Friday where doctors discovered a particularly dangerous tumour located in the esophagus. The former president, who is also battling an autoimmune disease, described his condition as “very complicated” and warned that chemotherapy and surgery would pose significant challenges for him due to this underlying health issue.
Mujica’s political career began when he was a leader of the Tupamaros guerilla group in the 1960s and early ’70s, which drew inspiration from Cuba’s revolution. During that time, Mujica also encountered multiple incidents involving police bullets, leading to his eventual imprisonment under Uruguay’s dictatorship until its fall in 1985.
During his tenure as President of Uruguay between 2010 and 2015, the politician drew acclaim worldwide due to initiatives like legalizing same-sex marriage (a bold move for a predominantly Roman Catholic country), promoting women’s rights, and making Uruguay the first nation in history fully legalize recreational marijuana. Mujica was also known as an honest and straightforward political figure who lived up to his values by shunning the presidential palace instead of residing at his modest house on Montevideo’s outskirts while donating most of his salary towards charity.
Although he left politics in 2020, Mujica remains a powerful force within Uruguay’s Broad Front coalition which comprises various leftist parties and centrist social democrats. In true characteristically charming style, the former president turned Monday’s press conference on his diagnosis into an encouraging pep-talk for young people, saying “Life is beautiful but it wears you out; you fall.” He continued by stating that anger should be transformed into hope every time one falls in life.
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