March 1, 2015, is an important day for the uruguayan people, when the old president leaves office and the new president takes office. The people of the capital, Montovideo, took to the streets and gathered in front of government buildings, most of them not to congratulate the new president on his inauguration, but to bid farewell to the old president, Mujica, who has been called "the world's poorest president."
It is reasonable to say that as the supreme leader of the country, if not as rich as the president of the United States, at least the income must be quite a lot. Mujica had announced that his entire fortune was just over $1,800, much of which was owned by his car— a Volkswagen Beetle worth about $1,000. Why is such a poor president so loved by the people? What kind of legendary experience did he have? Today, let us walk together into the life of Mujica, the "world's poorest president.".
José Mujica was born on 20 May 1935 in a small town in Mondevideo, uruguay. Although only 12 kilometers from the capital, his family was very poor, and at a young age, he often accompanied his mother to sell flowers to subsidize the family.
Jose Mujica
Growing up, Mujika became a cyclist and improved life at home. Because of the poverty of his childhood, Mujica developed a strong radical idea, and he was eager to change the status quo of the country and get rid of poverty. In South America, when communism arose in the 1950s and 1960s, he also began to promote communism.
In 1960, Mujica joined the Uruguayan Socialist Party and was admired by the party's leadership for his outstanding abilities. The Socialist Party sponsored Mujica to study in the communist world, and he went to the Socialist camps of the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba.
In 1962, just after attending the World Youth Congress in Moscow, Mujica came to Beijing again. Here he met Chairman Mao, and now Mujika is the only other head of state alive to have ever met Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao
During that time in China, he saw the enthusiasm and fighting spirit of the Chinese people to build the country, although China was still very poor at that time, which made him deeply interested in Chinese culture.
After leaving China, he went to Cuba. During his visit to Havana, he was deeply touched by the revolutionary struggle in Cuba, and he found the key to changing the country, that is, political upheaval like the Cuban Revolution.
In 1969, Mujica returned home, and with a goal in his life, he chose to use armed struggle to change the country rather than partisanism, and he became an armed guerrilla. On 8 October, to commemorate the second anniversary of Che Guevara's death, he led partisans in the Uruguayan industrial city of Pando in an attempt to overthrow government rule and take over local power. This was the beginning of their revolutionary cause and the demonstration of their struggle to the people of the whole country.
Unfortunately, the revolution failed because Mujica was not strong enough to overthrow the local government, and Mujica began a career of exile.
In March 1970, Mujica fled to the northern Uruguayan city of Tagoralumbo, where he was recognized by police at a local bar. Mushika immediately drew his gun and confronted the police, and after a burst of gunfire, Muhika fell to the ground with 6 shots, but he did not die.
After being rescued, Muhika was sentenced to life imprisonment for rebellion. At this time, the signs of dictatorship in Uruguay's domestic military became more and more obvious, and on June 27, 1973, a military coup d'état occurred in Uruguay, the junta came to power, and the military dictatorship reached its peak. Under the control of the junta, the state unrest in Uruguay gradually settled down, and it was not until March 1985 that the junta returned to the people.
After the election of a democratically elected president began, the state granted an amnesty and Mujica was able to return to freedom. After the country regained democracy, Mujica left the partisans to start politics, and he and his former guerrillas established a legitimate political party, the People's Participation Movement. His party was socialist, and soon after it was incorporated into the Progressive Alliance, the Broad Front.
In this leftist party organization, Mujica's ability was gradually recognized, coupled with his pragmatic attitude toward the people, and soon in 1995, Mujica was successfully elected to the House of Representatives. During his time in the House of Representatives, Muhika fought for the interests of the people at the bottom and won the respect and admiration of many people, even in the rival party, there were many people who supported his political ideas.
After entering the Senate in 1999, he became a rising star on the left, standing out in politics. In 2004, left-wing party chairman Vázquez won the presidential race, becoming the first leftist president in Uruguay's history, and Mujica also served as minister of agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries because of his outstanding ability.
Uruguay's economy is mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry, and the appointment of Mujica as Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry can also be seen in the cultivation of Mujica and the affirmation of his ability. In October 2009, Mujica resigned as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and announced his candidacy for president, at a time when he was 74 years old.
Mujica's participation in the presidential campaign is highly anticipated by the people, and many media have called Mujica a "candidate for the poor.". On the afternoon of November 30, 2009, in anticipation of the people of the whole country, the results of the election came out, and Mujica defeated his opponent with 52.4% of the vote to be elected president of Uruguay, the second left-wing president.
After the successful election of the president, Mujica did not use this to hit his opponents, he said: "In the presidential election, there is no victory and defeat, everyone is to make the country better and better, I will also listen to the opinions of other parties, only cooperation can win." Muhika's political ideas really made his opponents hate him.
On March 1, 2010, Mujica officially became President of Uruguay. The first thing Mujica did after taking office was to refuse to stay in the presidential palace and drive from home to work every day. For this incident, he explained: "There must be special people to stay in the presidential palace, and the money hired by these people is enough for me to help many poor families." ”
As the supreme leader of a country, Mujica does not pay attention to his own image, he never wears a tie, wears a casual shirt and jeans to work, even if he meets the president of another country, Mujica still dresses up.
Every day after work, Mujica drives a pale blue Volkswagen Beetle to a farm in the suburbs. There is only one dilapidated plank house here, and this is Mujica's home. He was followed home by two other guards, and the law required the president to have guards to protect him, so he agreed to follow at most two guards.
When he got home, a three-legged dog came up to greet him, the only guard he had. At dinner, Mujica would warmly invite the two guards to dinner together. Because of his duties, the guards refused his invitation, and each time Mujica would order them to have dinner together in the name of the president.
And they eat ordinary home-cooked meals, all of which come from his family's farm. Every day after work, Mujica drives tractors to farms, grows crops and, of course, raises flowers, inherited from his mother. Growing vegetables on farms, raising chickens and living on his own, Mujica lived a life that most people did not think was rich, but he did not consider himself poor.
Muhika was somewhat surprised after he received his first month's salary as president. It turns out that uruguay's president's monthly salary is $11,000, which is much more than when he was a parliamentarian. Mujica left $1,100 as a living expense, and the rest he donated to the country's poverty alleviation program to help the poor lift themselves out of poverty.
President Mujica's approach has aroused the suspicion of ill-intentioned people, who have secretly annexed state property. This slander infuriated Mujica, who went to the National Bureau of Statistics and made his property public. In the end, after an official audit, Mujica's personal assets were only more than $1,800, most of which were taken up by the car. The lies were broken, and Mujica's integrity became more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Mujica's integrity was sought after by the people, and his political achievements were outstanding. During His tenure, Mujica actively promoted the National Public Housing Program so that the people of the country would no longer worry about housing.
Economically, Mujica has stepped up foreign cooperation, especially with China. After the 2008 economic crisis, the global economy was hit hard, and Uruguay was able to achieve positive growth thanks to trade with China. In 2012, China also officially overtook Brazil to become Uruguay's largest trading partner, with a total trade volume of US$4.339 billion. Today, Uruguay is a medium-developed country, and its per capita GDP has reached 19,000 US dollars, which is inseparable from Mujica's credit.
When it comes to why Mujica pays more attention to trade with China, it is inseparable from the visit to China in the first place. He saw that Chinese people have a fighting spirit, and China will inevitably become an important force in the world that cannot be ignored. As early as the 1960s, he saw the future of China's development, and China was not the United States, which is why he chose China.
As a model of Uruguay's integrity, Mujica also often conveyed to the people a frugal lifestyle, and Mujica scoffed at the consumerism of Western countries. At the United Nations General Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012, Mujica angrily denounced the undesirable use of consumption to promote the economy, which is the wrong consumption pattern of Western developed countries.
If people were spending luxury, the planet would be scarred; if countries followed this pattern of consumption, it would only make the planet's resource reserves worse. Once excessive consumption stagnates, the Great Depression will come again; humans live on Earth for happiness, not for development. The poor are not those who lack material wealth, but those who are greedy and unenterprising.
Mujica's views criticized consumerism in Europe and the United States, and also made him famous in the world, and many media began to interview him. In an interview with a reporter, Mujica was just about to take a phone call. When Muhika took out his phone, the reporter froze.
Mujica's phone is still an old flip phone, because it has been used for a long time, and he also uses a leather band to tie the phone up. After his call, the reporter asked: "As the president of the country, why don't you change to a good mobile phone?" ”
Mushika asked, "This phone can still be used, why should I change it?" Is it just good-looking? I don't think it's any different! ”
The reporter smiled awkwardly and stopped dwelling on the issue.
Mujica's frugality spread around the world, and he earned the title of "the world's poorest president." Mujica didn't think much of it when he found out, saying, "They all call me the poorest president, and I don't feel poor." Those who say I am poor are the real poor, and although I have few things, my frugality makes me feel rich. ”
In Mujica's view, the poor are the ones who work hard to maintain a life of luxury.
After Mujica became famous, many wealthy people wanted to make deals with him. In June 2014, when Mujica came to Bolivia for the G77 + China summit, an Arab sheikh came to him and told him he wanted to buy his Beetle for $1 million.
When the news reached Uruguay, everyone began to discuss. Some say Mujica will take the opportunity to sell for a good price, after all, the car is worth more than $1,000. As the matter gradually fermented, Mujica calmed the matter in a TELEVISION interview five months later, saying: "The car was bought for me by my friend with money, I will not sell it, if I sell it, it will be disrespectful to my friend." ”
Mujica's approach won the applause of the people of the whole country, which is Mujica's style and the good president of Uruguay.
Compared with the admiration of the Uruguayan people, the international community is full of controversy about him. During Mujica's administration, he passed a bill: the legalization of abortion and gay marriage. Although Uruguay is a country of free religious belief, about 63% of the country's population is Catholic. This plan is unimaginable, and there are still many countries in the world today that are dominated by Catholicism, and international opposition is even more so.
Compared with the previous bill, the following bill has made the world full of controversy. In 2014, under Mujica's leadership, Uruguay officially became the first country in the world to fully legalize cannabis. Mujica believes that the state spends huge sums of money every year to fight drug dealers, which is not only ineffective, but also leads to the death of many people.
Instead of allowing drugs to grow unchecked, it is better to let the government take over and sell them at a low price of one gram and one dollar, robbing drug dealers of the sales market, so as to completely combat drug trafficking.
In the South American drug circle, it is difficult for a small country to achieve a complete drug problem, and the key is to find its own effective means to combat drug crimes. Perhaps, the United States in 2021 is to learn from Uruguay, and the result, we will not discuss.
By March 1, 2015, Mujica had also fulfilled his five-year term, and it was time to step down. When Mujica walked out of the presidential palace, the people on the street gathered around the road and shouted for him.
After stepping down as president, Mujica was re-elected to parliament, and he is still doing his duty for his people. By 2018, Mujica had turned down a pension as president. In October 2020, Mujica announced his retirement from politics to the nation at the age of 85.
Speaking in parliament, Mujica said: "The epidemic has forced me to make this choice, to be a parliamentarian is to go to the grassroots level and listen to the opinions of the people, but due to age and illness, I cannot continue to do this and I can no longer perform my duties." And you are still young, life is not always successful, all you have to do is fall down and get up again, and keep moving forward. ”
In the days to come, the old man would plant flowers in the yard and transport them to the market every morning to sell. The old man drove his pale blue Beetle on the road, and although the journey was bumpy, the fragrance of flowers lingered. Poor people are not "poor," and rich people are not "rich."