José “Pepe” Mujica didn’t have a lot use for Uruguay’s three-story presidential residence, with its chandeliers, elevator, marble staircase and Louis XV furnishings.
“It’s crap,” he instructed me final yr. “They need to make it a highschool.”
So when he grew to become president of his small South American nation in 2010, Mr. Mujica determined he would commute from his dwelling: a cluttered, three-room shack the scale of a studio condominium, full of a wooden range, overstuffed bookcases and jars of pickling greens.
Earlier than his death on Tuesday, Mr. Mujica lived there for many years with his lifelong partner, Lucía Topolansky — herself a former vp — and their three-legged canine, Manuela. They farmed chrysanthemums to promote in native markets and drove their sky blue 1987 Volkswagen Beetle to their favourite tango bars.
It was a political masterstroke. His presidency was, by many coverage measures, unremarkable. However his austere life-style made him revered by many Uruguayans for residing like them, whereas giving him a platform within the worldwide press to warn that greed was eroding society. He insisted it was really how he needed to dwell, however he additionally acknowledged that it served as an instance that politicians had lengthy had it too good.
