05-05-2023, 07:30 PM
This is the leader every country should have - not perfect & slightly eccentric but basically a good bloke. With a past which may explain being a good bloke later in life.
If only we could clone him..
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45195188
"Former Uruguayan leader José Mujica, who was dubbed "the world's poorest president" for his modest lifestyle, says he does not want any pension from his time as a senator.
Mr Mujica resigned on Tuesday from the post of senator, which he had held since 2015, when his five-year-term as president had ended.
He said he would not serve out his term until 2020 because as he was "tired after a long journey".
The former left-wing rebel is 83.
In it he said "the motives [for resigning] are personal, I would call them 'tiredness after a long journey'."
"Nevertheless, while my mind works, I can't resign from solidarity and the battle of ideas," the letter continued.
Mr Mujica, who is known for his direct and sometimes colourful language, also apologised to "any colleagues I may have personally hurt in the heat of the debate". But it was his down-to-earth lifestyle and refusal to live in the presidential palace during his time in office which made him really famous.
Then and now, he and his wife, who was his life partner and fellow guerrilla fighter long before they married in 2005, live on a modest flower farm on the outskirts of Montevideo.
He donated most of his salary as president to charity and the only possession he had when he took office in 2010 was his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.
The light-blue, beat-up Beetle became so famous he was offered $1m (£780,000) for it in 2014, but turned the offer down because he said he would have no way of transporting his three-legged dog without it."
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/talk-t...of-leaders
If only we could clone him..
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45195188
"Former Uruguayan leader José Mujica, who was dubbed "the world's poorest president" for his modest lifestyle, says he does not want any pension from his time as a senator.
Mr Mujica resigned on Tuesday from the post of senator, which he had held since 2015, when his five-year-term as president had ended.
He said he would not serve out his term until 2020 because as he was "tired after a long journey".
The former left-wing rebel is 83.
In it he said "the motives [for resigning] are personal, I would call them 'tiredness after a long journey'."
"Nevertheless, while my mind works, I can't resign from solidarity and the battle of ideas," the letter continued.
Mr Mujica, who is known for his direct and sometimes colourful language, also apologised to "any colleagues I may have personally hurt in the heat of the debate". But it was his down-to-earth lifestyle and refusal to live in the presidential palace during his time in office which made him really famous.
Then and now, he and his wife, who was his life partner and fellow guerrilla fighter long before they married in 2005, live on a modest flower farm on the outskirts of Montevideo.
He donated most of his salary as president to charity and the only possession he had when he took office in 2010 was his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.
The light-blue, beat-up Beetle became so famous he was offered $1m (£780,000) for it in 2014, but turned the offer down because he said he would have no way of transporting his three-legged dog without it."
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/talk-t...of-leaders
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)