The best President? Jose Mujica

From 2010 to 2015, Uruguay was in the hands of an amazing man — Jose Mujica, dubbed "the world's poorest President". Mujica was well described by the Daily Mail: "at last there is a politician honest in his expenses." This President, who is widely known in his country by the nickname El Pepe, really is an example of unusual directness and justice, which, we agree, is a rare quality for a politician of any kind.

El Pepe's full name is Jose Humberto Mujica, he was born in 1935, so he is now 83 years old. Her mother is from a poor family of Italian immigrants, and her father is Spanish. Jose's father owned a farm, but died when the boy was about five years old. Jose becomes interested in politics and public life at an early age. at the age of twenty-five, he joins the national liberation movement "Tupamaros", which is a left-wing armed group, a kind of guerrilla group inspired by the ideas of the Cuban revolution. In 1960-70. members of the organization, like Robin hood, robbed the rich and distributed the loot to the poor. Tupamaros is also responsible for armed attacks and even murders. Jose Mujica often became an active participant in violent clashes, his body left a considerable number of scars from injuries. After being repeatedly arrested, he spent a total of 14 years in prison. He escaped, was subjected to solitary confinement, and spent two years in complete isolation at the bottom of a well, where, according to his own recollections, he talked to frogs to keep from going mad.

The future President was released from prison in 1985, when Uruguay returned to democracy. From this moment, the political activity of Muzhiks also begins. A famous story as becoming a Deputy, Jose drove to the Parliament building on a Vespa scooter to a Parking attendant how long he came, replied, "I hope long." A little later, He became a Senator, then Minister of cattle breeding, agriculture and fisheries. In 2008 he was officially confirmed as a candidate for the presidency of Uruguay, and in 2010 he is elected President of the country.

Mujica has never hidden the fact that his years in prison helped shape his Outlook on life in many ways. With the arrival of big politics to replace the youthful fervor of Robin hood, Mujica realized that it was necessary to look for new methods to combat poverty and injustice. And the President decided to start with himself. This is where the story of the "poorest" President of the planet is born. In Uruguay, the official monthly salary of the head of state is $ 12,500. After taking the presidential chair, Jose immediately declared that a tenth of this money would be enough for him to live. The words were followed by actual actions. Mujica gave 90% of his monthly income to social services and charity. After becoming head of state, he refuses to move to the presidential residence and stays in a small house on the outskirts of Montevideo. The house is the property of his wife - Lucia Topolansky Saavedra. Lucia supported her husband in everything, both during the difficult years of imprisonment, and during the years in power, and now. For a long time, this woman was the acting President, as well as a member of Congress.

The modest home of the presidential couple does not even have a Central water supply. The family's property is an old Volkswagen and a couple of tractors. The President's security was limited to two policemen, and the only formal suit for official meetings hung in the closet.

But behind this seemingly eccentric asceticism of Mujica are real results at the state level. During his five years in office, the country's unemployment rate has almost halved, now in Uruguay it is considered the lowest in all of Latin America. The number of poor people has significantly decreased. For government purposes, social and infrastructure projects, not only budget money was allocated, but also personal funds of the head of state. For example, at the initiative of the President, every schoolchild in the country is provided with a computer for free. The state also pays for education and sets prices for essential goods. The expansion of civil rights under Mujica was accompanied by a steady increase in GDP. Uruguay is considered the safest and least corrupt state in Latin America.

President Mujica was also famous for his "liberal" reforms. He legalized same-sex marriage, abortion, and became the first President to lift the ban on marijuana use. All these measures are met with particular enthusiasm by the world community. in 2014, Mujica was even nominated for the Nobel peace prize for the law on marijuana. But the President himself says that he is far from liberalism and is guided by common sense and concern for his people. So allowing marijuana is a necessary measure to fight the underground drug business. In the modern era, when it is impossible to ignore the logic of the market, this is a kind of reasonable adjustment. At the same time, no one is talking about a full and universal resolution. The state gets a monopoly on the sale of marijuana, its consumption should not exceed a reasonable norm, so we are talking about individual doses that can be purchased in pharmacies.

Mujica achieved his goal: after marijuana became widely available, the popularity of heroin and cocaine plummeted, Uruguay ceased to be a lucrative place for the development of the drug business.

Jose Mujica, who has lifted the ban on abortion, marijuana and homosexual unions, and also calls himself an atheist, at the same time has great respect for the age-old traditions of his country and, first of all, for the institution of the Catholic Church. After a personal meeting with the current Pope Francis, when asked by journalists what he might have in common with the Pontiff, El Pepe replied that humanity. Mujica speaks of Francis with great respect, as a special Church hierarchy who seeks to return to the basics - to humility and restraint, to fulfilling obligations.

After leaving the presidency, El Pepe had the right to remain a Senator until 2020, continuing to participate in big politics and having a decent salary. But he refuses this privilege and the Senator's pension, preferring a quiet, modest and measured life in his cozy house with a garden. The Mujica couple picked up a three-legged dog, named it Manuela, and it became the third member of the family. They eat from their garden, carry flowers for sale, go to an ordinary rural clinic, where they wait in line for an appointment. "I can live well with what I have," the former President repeated and continues to repeat his life credo.

Back in the summer of 2015, Mujica spoke at the Rio de Janeiro summit on sustainable development and providing for the poor. Now, after leaving the presidential post, he continues to be guided by the principles of reasonable consumption in his personal and public life, and the topic of renewable energy sources and waste recycling constantly comes up in his interviews. He is extremely concerned that the planet does not have sufficient resources to meet the level of consumption and spending that we have. Mujica constantly emphasizes that he is not against consumption, but against waste. He denounces most of the world's leaders for their " blind obsession with increasing consumption." He believes that the desire to increase the level of consumption is natural for a politician, but it should be about appropriate consumption, because if humanity learns to live within its means, everyone can have everything they need. Globalization, according to Mujica, cannot disappear, but must be constantly monitored.

All this can be achieved, El Pepe reflects, only by changing our consciousness. It is in this change that the former revolutionary now sees the real revolution. If in his youth, inspired by the activities of Che Guevara, he sought to rebuild the world with weapons in his hands, with age, he revised his views. "Revolution," Mujica explains, "is not always about shooting and violence. This is, first of all, a change in thinking. At one time, Confucianism and Christianity also seemed revolutionary."

The "poorest President" also thinks a lot about the concept of poverty. He fundamentally disagrees with those who called him the poor President: "I am Thrifty and moderate, but not poor." According to Mujica, a moderate life is a philosophy, and the poor are those who work for an expensive lifestyle and always want more. Such people, Mujica continues, do not have time for themselves, for life itself.

But at the same time, Music does not impose its way of life on anyone. "Everyone can't live like me," El Pepe explains, " if I asked everyone to follow my example, they would just kill me."

Not considering his life a feat and a mandatory role model, Mujica does not pretend to absolute knowledge of the secret of universal happiness. He warns that Paradise is not built overnight and everywhere. "Step by step, I strive to achieve less injustice in my country, to help those who need it," the former President explains. And behind these Golden words are real actions, five years of implementation of what was said in state policy. And perhaps now, from the silence of the village house, these words sound even more convincing than from the presidential rostrum.