He was the poorest president in the world, and a broken car, a tractor, and a broken garden were all his possessions.
Ironically, the ruined garden was not his own, but his wife's property.
In 2012, public estimates showed that the president's entire family fortune totaled $210,000, or more than $1.6 million.
Our Chinese friends must be laughing, as long as they can have a suite in the city, even if the house is in the county town of a rich province, the family property is more than the president.
This person is the former Uruguayan president José Mujica, is Mujica so affiliation because of frugality?
Not exactly.
The poorest president
Mujica, though poor himself, lifted the Uruguayan people out of poverty during his administration, with an unprecedented per capita GDP of $18,000.
But it's interesting that the country is slowly getting stronger and richer, and the president is getting poorer and poorer.
First of all, Mujica only had one Volkswagen Beetle produced in 1987, which he had not bought himself, but had been given to him by a few friends who had raised funds to give it to him.
At first, Uruguay's economy was sluggish, and the president's poor position was understandable, but as the country grew, President Mujica did not have the slightest idea of changing cars, which was 30 years.
In 2014, the president's "broken car" spread throughout the country, although the price of the car itself was not high, but because the president drove for 30 years, some people came up with a variety of strange reasons to analyze:
After auctioning this car, Mujica will surely become very rich, after all, Mujica was very prestigious at that time, and the car that followed him for so many years will surely rise and rise, with certain commercial value and historical significance.
But on November 16, 2014, in an interview with the radio, Mujica made it clear that he would not sell the car because it was very disrespectful to the friends who had raised money to buy the car.
In addition to this "broken car" can see the president's life, there is also the house he lives in every day.
Supposedly, uruguay's president should live in the presidential residence, but Mujica thought that the house was too big and too troublesome to manage, so he simply lived with his wife in a small broken house on the farm, and the scene and quality of life were comparable to those of a peasant uncle.
What is even more interesting is that the farm and the house are not muhika's own, but his wife's.
As the president of a country, he did not even need a bodyguard around him, but after all, the president's personal safety was crucial, so a clause was added to the later Uruguayan law: the president must be equipped with bodyguards.
With the law in place, Mujica left two bodyguards for himself.
Living in prison
Why does the President of Uruguay have this style of life that is different from that of other leaders?
In fact, this has to start from his personal experience.
Mujica was born on May 20, 1935, in a small town not far from Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, where he spent his childhood and adolescence.
The family is very ordinary, and the experience of youth is also ordinary, originally working as a cyclist in several clubs.
Supposedly, state affairs had little to do with him, but Mujica joined the Tupamaros guerrillas in the 1960s with the aim of opposing the military dictatorship, and mujica's life trajectory began to change.
He was eventually arrested for his involvement in many military operations, and then began his 14-year career behind bars, which must have been the last of Mujica's memories of the past.
In prison, Mujica was humiliated, and he was locked up with two other arrested prisoners, the prison was damp and dark, and all three people ate and drank in a small room of less than 10 square meters.
The only place where the sun could be seen was the small square skylight above his head, but this small skylight was actually more terrifying, because the jailer would often stand on the skylight to defecate in order to humiliate them.
Muhika's spirit began to become abnormal, and he had to endure not only the dampness and stench, but also the humiliation of the jailer.
Because life in prison was so bad, Mujica soon contracted skin and respiratory diseases.
Under the devastation of non-human beings, Muhika lived in prison for 14 years.
But what is even more precious is that Mujica has never thought of giving up, even if there are occasional thoughts of taking his own life, but as long as the firm faith flashes in his mind, he will grit his teeth and persevere.
Recreate the stage of life
Not only was he once again active on the Uruguayan national stage in 1985, when democracy was restored and Mujica was finally freed.
In 1995, Mujica was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time, and because of his simple words and approachable personality, he quickly gained popular support, and Mujica rose to prominence in politics.
In 2004, Tavaré Vázquez was elected President of Uruguay and Mujica was re-elected to the Senate.
On November 29, 2009, Mujica was elected president, he was easy-going and funny, not only had a certain influence in political circles, but also had a high reputation among Uruguayans because of his unique personality, and even many locals gave him the nickname "Pepe".
On October 20, 2020, due to his advanced age, the nearly 80-year-old Mujica announced his retirement from politics, and the first reaction of the people was to retain, perhaps it would be difficult for them to meet a president who was both for the sake of the people and so frugal.
Although Mujica was poor, he never felt that he was poor, and although he had only a few possessions, frugality brought him the greatest wealth.
I particularly liked one of his words:
The so-called success in life is not to achieve victory, but to fall down and get up again, and then continue to move forward.
I believe that although many young people now will not experience a tortuous and bumpy life like Mujica, his qualities are enough for us to admire and learn, and the frugal style will not make us really poor, but it will make our hearts full of wealth.