Former Uruguayan President Mujica hospitalized for a third time in 10 days
Friday, September 6th 2024 - 10:44 UTC
Former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica (2010-2015) was admitted Thursday for the third time in 10 days at a Montevideo sanatorium to go on with his cancer treatment. Mujica's head physician Raquel Pannone said the case affecting the 89-year-old leader was not particularly serious despite the recurrent hospitalizations.
On Aug. 26, he had also been admitted into the Casmu clinic but was released the following day. On Aug. 31 he also sought medical help after eating something too solid for his damaged esophagus. “The consequences of the radiotherapy made it more difficult for him to eat and he has been drinking less liquids,” Pannone pointed out. According to local media, the treating staff was concerned about Mujica's eating habits and needed to be hydrated intravenously.
In April this year, Mujica admitted he was suffering from a malignant esophagus tumor for which he received radiotherapy. “It is extremely complex in my case because I have suffered from an immunological disease for more than 20 years that has affected my kidneys, among other things, which creates obvious difficulties for chemotherapy or surgery techniques, all of which are being evaluated by the doctors,” Mujica noted back then. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Mujica said the radiotherapy seemed to have worked but he was exhausted after it.
“He underwent radiotherapy and that generated some symptoms that he is not overcoming. It is not because of his basic disease, it is not because he has any other complication. On the contrary, the evolution regarding the esophagus tumor was very good,” explained Pannone, who also reckoned that Mujica had tolerated 32 sessions of radiotherapy without any setbacks. She also told reporters that Mujica would remain in the hospital until the treatment can be carried out at home and he can tolerate more dense food.
https://en.mercopress.com/2024/09/06/former-uruguayan-president-mujica-hospitalized-for-a-third-time-in-10-days
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José Mujica is a national hero.
From his Wikipedia:
José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (Spanish: [xoˈse muˈxika]; born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician, former revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015.[1] A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and imprisoned for 14 years during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. A member of the Broad Front coalition of left-wing parties, Mujica was Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 and a Senator afterwards. As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as president on 1 March 2010. He was the Second Gentleman of Uruguay from 13 September 2017 to 1 March 2020, when his wife Lucia Topolansky was vice president under his immediate predecessor and successor, Tabaré Vázquez.
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Mujica's political ideology has evolved over the years from orthodox to pragmatist. In recent times he has expressed a desire for a more flexible political left.[26] His speaking style and manner are credited as part of his growing popularity since the late 1990s, especially among rural and poor sectors of the population.[27] He has been variously described as an "antipolitician"[28] and a man who "speaks the language of the people" while also receiving criticism for untimely or inappropriate remarks.[29] Unlike President Vázquez, who vetoed a bill put forward by parliament that would make abortions legal, Mujica has stated that should it come before him in the future, he would not veto such a bill.[30] In the sphere of international relations, he hoped to further negotiations and agreements between the European Union and the regional trade bloc Mercosur, of which Uruguay is a founding member.[31]
More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica#Government
José (Pepe) Mujica
Mujica and wife, Lucia Topolansky
Their beloved Volkswagon
Pepe, on the left, as a prisoner
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Lucia Topolansky is Uruguay's first female vice president
13 September 2017
Lucia Topolansky (R), wife of ex president Jose Mujica (L) received unanimous support from the General Assembly
Lucia Topolansky, senator and wife of ex-President Jose Mujica, has become Uruguay's first female vice-president.
Ms Topolansky took over after the resignation of Jose Sendic amid corruption allegations.
A former left-wing guerrilla like her husband, she escaped prison, spent 13 years in jail, and survived torture.
Uruguay has been led by the left-wing Frente Amplio party, which has promoted generous social welfare policies, since 2005.
Under the constitution, Mr Sendic, the former vice-president, should have been replaced by the senator with the most votes in the last elections.
That should have been Jose Mujica, the former president, who became popular across the world for giving away most of his salary and was dubbed "the world's poorest president".
However Mr Mujica is ineligible due to a prohibition on presidential re-election, so the senator next in line was his wife.
More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41262661
Lucia, center, as a prisoner
(As Uruguay's President, Mujica shunned living in the Presidential Palace, and he and his wife lived on their flower farm with their dogs!)
