Author Topic: The world's poorest president (Read 1831 times)

islander · « **on:** November 16, 2012, 12:02:07 AM »

Jose Mujica: The world's 'poorest' president

By Vladimir Hernandez
BBC Mundo, Montevideo
15 November 2012

Jose Mujica and his dogs outside his home

It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay.

Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside.

This is the residence of the president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, whose lifestyle clearly differs sharply from that of most other world leaders.

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islander · « **Reply #1 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:07:06 AM »

President Mujica has shunned the luxurious house that the Uruguayan state provides for its leaders and opted to stay at his wife's farmhouse, off a dirt road outside the capital, Montevideo.

The president and his wife work the land themselves, growing flowers.

This austere lifestyle - and the fact that Mujica donates about 90% of his monthly salary, equivalent to $12,000 (Â£7,500), to charity - has led him to be labelled the poorest president in the world.

"I may appear to be an eccentric old man... But this is a free choice."

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islander · « **Reply #2 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:12:13 AM »

"I've lived like this most of my life," he says, sitting on an old chair in his garden, using a cushion favoured by Manuela the dog.

"I can live well with what I have."

His charitable donations - which benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs - mean his salary is roughly in line with the average Uruguayan income of $775 (Â£485) a month.

In 2010, his annual personal wealth declaration - mandatory for officials in Uruguay - was $1,800 (Â£1,100), the value of his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.

All the president's wealth - a 1987 VW Beetle

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #3 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:12:39 AM »

I wouldn't say he's poor, but rich. He is content with what he has, happy with what he had accomplished in life and in that sense, Rich. Many of us could learn from this man.

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Chongki · « **Reply #4 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:18:20 AM »

bravo!

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islander · « **Reply #5 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:18:56 AM »

he chose to live simply sans material frivolities. he seems happier because his kind of poverty is a choice. he even makes do with a three-legged dog.

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islander · « **Reply #6 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:20:30 AM »

bravissimo! when kaha mi sa pinas maka-mayor pareha nimoh!

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #7 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:22:27 AM »

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islander · « **Reply #8 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:23:27 AM »

more...

This year, he added half of his wife's assets - land, tractors and a house - reaching $215,000 (Â£135,000).

That's still only about two-thirds of Vice-President Danilo Astori's declared wealth, and a third of the figure declared by Mujica's predecessor as president, Tabare Vasquez.

Elected in 2009, Mujica spent the 1960s and 1970s as part of the Uruguayan guerrilla Tupamaros, a leftist armed group inspired by the Cuban revolution.

He was shot six times and spent 14 years in jail. Most of his detention was spent in harsh conditions and isolation, until he was freed in 1985 when Uruguay returned to democracy.

Those years in jail, Mujica says, helped shape his outlook on life.

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pioneer · « **Reply #9 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:25:20 AM »

sa ato kay barangay tanod lang gani, hawod na kaayo. naa ganiy mga city traffic enforcer nga murag nagtoo sila ang tag-iya sa kalsada.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #10 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:28:19 AM »

sa ato kay barangay tanod lang gani, hawod na kaayo. naa ganiy mga city traffic enforcer nga murag nagtoo sila ang tag-iya sa kalsada.

You should say to them, Mike, "Saba diha! Ako bitaw mo bayad sa imong salary!"

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islander · « **Reply #11 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:28:49 AM »

i had an encounter with a government employee this afternoon. i thought he owned central visayas. he impressed me as such.

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islander · « **Reply #12 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:30:14 AM »

Mujica could have followed his predecessors into a grand official residence

"I'm called 'the poorest president', but I don't feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more," he says.

"This is a matter of freedom. If you don't have many possessions then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time for yourself," he says.

"I may appear to be an eccentric old man... But this is a free choice."

The Uruguayan leader made a similar point when he addressed the Rio+20 summit in June this year: "We've been talking all afternoon about sustainable development. To get the masses out of poverty.

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islander · « **Reply #13 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:31:18 AM »

"But what are we thinking? Do we want the model of development and consumption of the rich countries? I ask you now: what would happen to this planet if Indians would have the same proportion of cars per household than Germans? How much oxygen would we have left?

"Does this planet have enough resources so seven or eight billion can have the same level of consumption and waste that today is seen in rich societies? It is this level of hyper-consumption that is harming our planet."

Mujica accuses most world leaders of having a "blind obsession to achieve growth with consumption, as if the contrary would mean the end of the world".

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pioneer · « **Reply #14 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:31:27 AM »

@bran: it takes a lot of patience to deal with certain government workers, bran. only very few can be considered public servants.

@islander: maayo kay central visayas ra. basin mapareha sa attitude sa AMALAYER.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #15 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:34:44 AM »

@bran: it takes a lot of patience to deal with certain government workers, bran. only very few can be considered public servants.

@islander: maayo kay central visayas ra. basin mapareha sa attitude sa AMALAYER.

@ Mike, my grand-uncle, si Judge Gabriel Ingles, once told me, "As a government employee, one is the servant of the people, Ondoy Bran."

He is right, these public officials that abuse their power betray the people that placed them in power.

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islander · « **Reply #16 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:35:13 AM »

@bran: it takes a lot of patience to deal with certain government workers, bran. only very few can be considered public servants.

@islander: maayo kay central visayas ra. basin mapareha sa attitude sa AMALAYER.

hehe, i hoped at least that he wouldn't include the republic of bohol... as for me, AMALOSER.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #17 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:37:13 AM »

hehe, i hoped at least that he wouldn't include the republic of bohol...

That's not good, isles. I hope you told your friend, "remember thou art mortal."

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islander · « **Reply #18 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:38:31 AM »

But however large the gulf between the vegetarian Mujica and these other leaders, he is no more immune than they are to the ups and downs of political life.

"Many sympathise with President Mujica because of how he lives. But this does not stop him for being criticised for how the government is doing," says Ignacio Zuasnabar, a Uruguayan pollster.

The Uruguayan opposition says the country's recent economic prosperity has not resulted in better public services in health and education, and for the first time since Mujica's election in 2009 his popularity has fallen below 50%.

This year he has also been under fire because of two controversial moves. Uruguay's Congress recently passed a bill which legalised abortions for pregnancies up to 12 weeks. Unlike his predecessor, Mujica did not veto it.

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islander · « **Reply #19 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:39:52 AM »

That's not good, isles. I hope you told your friend, "remember thou art mortal."

now that you've mentioned it, how sweet it would have been if i instead told him how lucky he was to meet immortal me.

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islander · « **Reply #20 on:** November 16, 2012, 12:42:26 AM »

President Mujica he chose to stay on his wife's farm

He is also supporting a debate on the legalisation of the consumption of cannabis, in a bill that would also give the state the monopoly over its trade.

"Consumption of cannabis is not the most worrying thing, drug-dealing is the real problem," he says.

However, he doesn't have to worry too much about his popularity rating - Uruguayan law means he is not allowed to seek re-election in 2014. Also, at 77, he is likely to retire from politics altogether before long.

When he does, he will be eligible for a state pension - and unlike some other former presidents, he may not find the drop in income too hard to get used to.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

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jorgeanna · « **Reply #21 on:** November 16, 2012, 10:10:52 PM »

I'm called 'the poorest president', but I don't feel poor. Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more," he says.

"This is a matter of freedom. If you don't have many possessions then you don't need to work all your life like a slave to sustain them, and therefore you have more time for yourself," he says.

Am going to post this to my FB status... its so inspiring

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BolBuhol · « **Reply #22 on:** November 16, 2012, 11:06:16 PM »

el presidente mas pobre

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BolBuhol · « **Reply #23 on:** November 17, 2012, 04:15:02 PM »

sa ato kay barangay tanod lang gani, hawod na kaayo. naa ganiy mga city traffic enforcer nga murag nagtoo sila ang tag-iya sa kalsada.

ginagtomang lang gid nila hang ilang obligasyom

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fdaray · « **Reply #24 on:** November 17, 2012, 04:42:01 PM »

15 November 2012 Last updated at 09:01 GMT Help
The President of Uruguay Jose Mujica has been dubbed by international media as 'the poorest president in the world'.

In his latest official declaration of wealth, he says he owns just two vehicles, a small amount of property and his farmhouse. He donates 90% of his salary to charity.

Mujica became president of Uruguay after a landslide victory more than two years ago. After a half a term in power, he is now backing a bill to legalise the use of cannabis.

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