When it comes to presidents, many people first think of power and wealth. In Uruguay, South America, however, there has been such a president. During his tenure, some people counted his personal property, which was only more than $1800.
How poor is that? For example, the president of the United States earns $400,000 a year, and Trump spends billions of dollars to run for president.
The poor president is the former president of Uruguay, Mujica, who has been voted the poorest president in the world by many media magazines.
Muhika
Contrary to his "poverty", he served the country of Uruguay, which was once known as the "Diamond Country" and "South American Switzerland".
Although it is known as the country of diamonds, Uruguay is not rich in diamonds, but because the terrain resembles diamonds and is rich in amethyst, it is called the country of diamonds. However, even Uruguay, which is not rich in diamonds, has a good economic level.
Developed agriculture and animal husbandry, a high level of urbanization and a small population size have made Uruguay a high-income developed country by the World Bank.
Why did Uruguay, which is so rich, make its president so poor? Is it that Uruguay has not treated the president well enough?
Obviously not, being president in Uruguay is a good career option. The Presidential Palace is located in the administrative building of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. While the building is not as palatial as the White House and Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, it is also a dazzling landmark in Uruguay.
With such a presidential palace, the salary of the president of Uruguay is naturally not bad, about 160,000 US dollars per year, which is higher than the salary of Russian President Putin.
With such treatment, it stands to reason that the President of Uruguay is not poor. In fact, of all uruguayan presidents, only Mujica is poor. It's not because Uruguay treats the president differently, it's that Mujica donates 90 percent of his president's salary.
Old Presidential Palace of Uruguay
After Mujica was elected president in 2009, he did not live in the presidential residence, but instead moved to a farm on the outskirts of the capital. And the farm was not Mushika's own, but his wife's property.
He lived here, with no comfortable and luxurious rooms, only a crumbling slab room, not even running water, and needed to be carried by himself from a well in the nearby meadow.
The president moved to live on a farm, which the people of Uruguay did not know at first. It wasn't until 2010, when the presidential property was made public, that the situation was discovered.
According to Uruguay's official gazette, Mujica's personal family fortune is about $1,800. Among them, Mujica's Volkswagen Beetle car accounts for the majority. In addition, he had almost nothing.
As Muhika's property situation spread, the title of the world's poorest president followed. However, many people have also expressed skepticism, believing that everything Mujica does is a political show.
It should be noted here that Uruguay's presidency is five years and cannot be re-elected, but can only be re-elected at intervals. Therefore, many people feel that Mujica is establishing his own image so that the people will not forget themselves after 5 years.
However, Muhika's later actions slapped these people in the face.
During his 5 years in power, Mujica did not deliberately promote his "poverty". He even explained in front of the media that he was not "poor", but no one believed it.
Muhika used reality to tell the skeptics that he didn't need to deliberately pretend to be "poor" at all. In 2015, when Mujica walked out of the presidential palace, all the people who came spontaneously waved to him and said goodbye to their favorite president. The popular reaction is the best test of the effectiveness of Muhika's administration.
During Mujica's five years in power, Uruguay's people have gone from poor to rich: they have the largest health care and education system in South America, and they also have a super high living welfare system. Statistically, since Mujica came to power, the poverty rate in Uruguay has decreased from 32.5 per cent to 9.4 per cent. Most people in the country have a good living guarantee.
The people finally had a good life, but Mujica was "poor". After retiring, Mujica also voluntarily demanded that his government pension be cancelled and he lived a quiet life on the farm alone. Why is Muhika willing to pretend to be "poor" when he is not poor? It starts when he was a kid.
Mujica was born in 1935 to a poor family. However, the long period of hard life not only made Mujika diligent and optimistic, but also gave him a dream: to change the living conditions of the poor in the country.
Growing up, Mujica became a professional cyclist and made more money, but he did not forget his dreams.
Uruguay in the 1960s was not at peace, and the dictatorship of the military government made the entire country a miasma. People living in difficulty established guerrilla groups and launched anti-dictatorship movements.
Mujica did not hesitate to join the guerrillas, and he actively participated in various activities.
The expanding movement has also brought Mujika to the attention of the authoritarian government. He was assassinated many times, and at his most dangerous, he weighed 6 bullets, but he still insisted on continuing the anti-dictatorship campaign.
Finally, at one occasion, the dictatorship captured Mujika and more than 100 of his guerrillas and put them in jail.
Because of Mujica's fame, the dictatorship did not dare to kill him. Muhika and two guerrillas were ordered to be imprisoned in a dark cell for 14 years.
During these 14 years, Mujica had a nervous breakdown and the thought of giving up.
When he first entered prison, Mujica had no dignity or power. As soon as they are found talking to other people, the "jailer" is a severe beating.
Subsequently, in order to prevent the three Muhikas from escaping from prison, the "jailers" constantly changed their cells, from one claustrophobic space to another, and finally to a cell with a skylight.
Being able to see the sky outside made Mujica and his 2 companions think they were going to be treated fairly. Unexpectedly, just a few days later, the guards' guards demarcated the area where the three of them lived in their cells and demanded that they should be in this circle regardless of whether they ate or drank, unless they wanted to be beaten or treated more cruelly.
However, even as the three of them live in a small area, there are still jailers who urinate on them through the skylight and carry out vicious insults such as peeing.
As the days passed, mushika became delirious and confused, and had forgotten his dreams and ambitions. If there had been no accidents, he would probably have died here without dignity.
In a moment of despair, Mujika's mother came and gave Mujika a urinal. Holding his mother's gift in his hand, Mujica suddenly woke up.
He remembered his dreams, his family and the thousands of people who were being persecuted by the dictatorship. Mujica began to grow stronger, no longer afraid of everything. In this way, the three of them spent a long 14 years in prison with tenacious will.
In 1985, Uruguay, which overthrew the dictatorship, regained democracy, and the three Muhicas reappeared, and he began to participate in politics. Ten years later, through his own efforts, Mujica was elected to the House of Representatives and officially entered the national political arena.
After entering politics, Mujica chose the left, but because of his experience and style, he still gained the respect of other factions.
In 2004, Mujica's left wing won the first general election, and the well-mannered Mujica was elected Uruguay's Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, a position of great importance in Uruguay.
As we all know, although Uruguay has the title of "diamond country", its economic pillar is agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries. Mujica's ability to serve as minister shows that his abilities have been recognized by many politicians.
After five years of fighting in the post of Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Mujica, who had gained the trust of the people, was elected president by all the people without any suspense.
After becoming president, Mujica did not forget his dreams when he was young. He set aside his prejudices and invited other parties to govern the country together. Mujica proposed that the country's first task was to improve the welfare of the population and send poverty out of Uruguay.
To achieve this goal, Mujica led by example by donating 90 per cent of his salary to the State welfare program. He himself chose to live on the farm, did not invite any servants, and did everything he could.
In his days as president, Mujica often drove tractors to farm and support his family after he was busy with state affairs.
When someone says to him, you are the poorest president in the world, Mujica says, I am not poor, and the person who says I am poor is really poor. I only have a few things, yes, but it's frugality, and it makes me feel very rich.
For the truly poor, Mujica always has different feelings. During his presidency, he moved around and often interacted with the people.
Many people first knew him, probably because they were "poor", but later they met him again because of Mujica's authenticity and simplicity.
In 2020, when the presidential campaign began again, many people hoped that Mujica could run. When he heard the news, he smiled and refused.
He said that at the juncture of the epidemic, people need someone who can move around and communicate with people more. And I am old, I can't walk, I can only stay in the office, so I can't actually perform my duties.
He refused to participate in the election and announced his retirement from politics.
Now in his 80s, Mujica lives a simple life with farmland and pasture. He used his "poverty" to make the people of Uruguay realize their "wealth" and complete their dreams.
Resources
Editorial Board of the Journal. Jose Mujica[J].East-West-North-South, 2015, (No. 5).
Liu Le." The World's Poorest President – Mujica[J], Encyclopedic Knowledge, 2014, (No. 22).
LIN Xiaona. Jose Mujica The Poorest Clean President[J], People Weekly, 2014, (No. 9).