MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay: Mujica makes last public political appearance

”No to hatred and confrontation, we must work for hope”, former guerrilla leader Mujica also stressed

Battling esophageal cancer and age, former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica made what is believed to be his last public appearance this past weekend by showing up at a rally of “La 609” or MPP, the Broad Front (FA) faction he once founded. “Goodbye, I give you my heart,” Mujica stressed on Saturday during a campaign closing event a week before the Oct. 27 elections.

“It is the first time in the last 40 years that I am not participating in an electoral campaign. I am fighting against death, at the end of the game, absolutely convinced and conscious. But I had to come here today because of what you symbolize, because I have fresh in my mind the first 'mateada' 40 years ago in La Teja, and now I find myself with a crowd,” Mujica told those attending the Plaza 1º de Mayo in Montevideo.

“We have to understand that we take this country to development or we leave it in historical terms. We don't have time,” Mujica stressed. “The challenge is to develop ourselves to have the means to train the new generations. What I am saying is not poetic, someone has to say it. We have to talk to the whole country, not to have an Executive closed in on itself. We have to talk with all the forces of the country to fight among the 3 million. No to hatred and confrontation, we have to work for hope,” the former guerrilla leader also stressed.

“I am an old man who is very close to retirement, but I am happy because you are here. Because when my arms leave, there will be thousands of arms replacing the struggle. All my life I said that the best leaders are those who leave a rod that surpasses them with advantage: and today you are here. The struggle continues for a better world,” he added.

“I have spent my youth, my life, together because of my partner [former Vice President Lucia Topolansky],” Mujica stressed. “I am alive thanks to her and my doctor, otherwise I would have already left. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart,” he continued.

“From the political point of view, the youngest people are going to experience a change in the world that humanity has never known: intelligence is going to be as important as capital, which means that tertiary education is going to be imposed for the new generations. That is why we must fight for development and education. This is the biggest challenge facing the country. We need a government that opens its heart and head to the whole country,” he said.

“Goodbye, I give you my heart. And thank you. I have to thank life, there will be thousands of arms,” he added during the rally in support of Yamandu Orsi's candidacy.