It's a common grumble that
politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate.
Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm
and gives away most of his pay.
Laundry is strung outside the
house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only
two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch
outside.
President Mujica has shunned the luxurious house
that the Uruguayan state provides for its leaders and opted to stay at
his wife's farmhouse, off a dirt road outside the capital, Montevideo.
The president and his wife work the land themselves, growing flowers.
This
austere lifestyle - and the fact that Mujica donates about 90% of his
monthly salary, equivalent to $12,000 (£7,500), to charity - has led him
to be labelled the poorest president in the world.
"I've lived like this most of my life," he says, sitting on an old
chair in his garden, using a cushion favoured by Manuela the dog. "I can live well with what I have."
His
charitable donations - which benefit poor people and small
entrepreneurs - mean his salary is roughly in line with the average
Uruguayan income of $775 (£485) a month.
In 2010, his annual personal wealth declaration -
mandatory for officials in Uruguay - was $1,800 (£1,100), the value of
his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.
This year, he added half of his wife's assets - land, tractors and a house - reaching $215,000 (£135,000).
That's
still only about two-thirds of Vice-President Danilo Astori's declared
wealth, and a third of the figure declared by Mujica's predecessor as
president, Tabare Vasquez.
Elected in 2009, Mujica spent the 1960s
and 1970s as part of the Uruguayan guerrilla Tupamaros, a leftist armed
group inspired by the Cuban revolution.
He was shot six times and
spent 14 years in jail. Most of his detention was spent in harsh
conditions and isolation, until he was freed in 1985 when Uruguay
returned to democracy.
Those years in jail, Mujica says, helped shape his outlook on life.
His words
"I'm called 'the poorest president', but I don't feel poor. Poor
people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle,
and always want more and more," he says. "This is a matter of
freedom. If you don't have many possessions then you don't need to work
all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more
time for yourself," he says.
"I may appear to be an eccentric old man... But this is a free choice."
The
Uruguayan leader made a similar point when he addressed the Rio+20
summit in June this year:
"We've been talking all afternoon about
sustainable development. To get the masses out of poverty. "But
what are we thinking? Do we want the model of development and
consumption of the rich countries? I ask you now: what would happen to
this planet if Indians would have the same proportion of cars per
household than Germans? How much oxygen would we have left?
"Does
this planet have enough resources so seven or eight billion can have the
same level of consumption and waste that today is seen in rich
societies? It is this level of hyper-consumption that is harming our
planet." Mujica a-ccuses most world leaders of having a
"blind obsession to achieve growth with consumption, as if the contrary
would mean the end of the world".
You might not believe
it, but Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay since 2010, is known to be the
world’s poorest president.
Jose donates more then of 90% of his $12,000 per month salary to benefit
the poor and to help small entrepreneurs. If we need more of anything
in this world, it would be more people like this!
This man doesn’t put value on his appearance or clothes. He is
criticized for his posture and clothes, but Jose puts more value on
other things in life instead.
You might not believe
it, but Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay since 2010, is known to be the
world’s poorest president.
Jose donates more then of 90% of his $12,000 per month salary to benefit
the poor and to help small entrepreneurs. If we need more of anything
in this world, it would be more people like this!
This man doesn’t put value on his appearance or clothes. He is
criticized for his posture and clothes, but Jose puts more value on
other things in life instead.
You might not believe
it, but Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay since 2010, is known to be the
world’s poorest president.
Jose donates more then of 90% of his $12,000 per month salary to benefit
the poor and to help small entrepreneurs. If we need more of anything
in this world, it would be more people like this!
This man doesn’t put value on his appearance or clothes. He is
criticized for his posture and clothes, but Jose puts more value on
other things in life instead.
You might not believe
it, but Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay since 2010, is known to be the
world’s poorest president.
Jose donates more then of 90% of his $12,000 per month salary to benefit
the poor and to help small entrepreneurs. If we need more of anything
in this world, it would be more people like this!
This man doesn’t put value on his appearance or clothes. He is
criticized for his posture and clothes, but Jose puts more value on
other things in life instead.
You might not believe
it, but Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay since 2010, is known to be the
world’s poorest president.
Jose donates more then of 90% of his $12,000 per month salary to benefit
the poor and to help small entrepreneurs. If we need more of anything
in this world, it would be more people like this!
This man doesn’t put value on his appearance or clothes. He is
criticized for his posture and clothes, but Jose puts more value on
other things in life instead.
You might not believe
it, but Jose Mujica, president of Uruguay since 2010, is known to be the
world’s poorest president.
Jose donates more then of 90% of his $12,000 per month salary to benefit
the poor and to help small entrepreneurs. If we need more of anything
in this world, it would be more people like this!
This man doesn’t put value on his appearance or clothes. He is
criticized for his posture and clothes, but Jose puts more value on
other things in life instead.
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