MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay: Former President Mujica critically ill

Mujica is one week from turning 90, on May 20

Former Uruguayan President José Mujica is in the terminal phase of esophageal cancer and is receiving palliative care to ease his pain, his wife and former Vice President Lucía Topolansky confirmed. In April 2024, the former guerrilla fighter went public about the tumor for which he received 31 radiotherapy sessions.

Meanwhile, President Yamandú Orsi has called for respect for Mujica’s privacy, emphasizing that dignity should be upheld in all stages of life. “We are trying to take care of him, and that he does not do things that could harm him,” said Orsi.

The 89-year-old Mujica, known for his humble lifestyle and anti-consumerist views, remains a significant figure in the Latin American left, admired globally for his direct and unconventional approach to leadership.

In January, he admitted that his throat cancer had spread and that he had decided to stop all treatments. Due to his declining health, he was unable to attend Sunday’s regional elections in Montevideo, where the left retained power.

“We were going to make the effort to go to vote, but the transfer in the vehicle was too much for him, and the doctor recommended not to go,” Topolansky explained while adding that Mujica was not in pain, “does not suffer anxiety, and can sleep well”.

“I have been with him for more than 40 years and I will be with him until the end, that is what I promised,” she further noted.

“He has a terminal illness that takes a process, we are waiting for the outcome, this is part of life,” Presidential Secretary Alejandro Sánchez said from Montevideo's Torre Ejecutiva.

Mujica is one week from turning 90, on May 20.