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Mourning, Tribute, As ‘World’s Poorest President’ Dies

Published

1 year ago

May 14, 2025

Editor

Tributes poured in from across Latin America on Tuesday following the death of Uruguay’s former president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics.

The 89-year-old, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment.

“With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguay’s current leader, Yamandu Orsi, posted on X.

“Pepe, eternal!” a cyclist shouted out minutes later, while passing government buildings.

Mujica earned the moniker “world’s poorest president” during his 2010-2015 presidency for giving away much of his salary to charity and living a simple life on his farm, with his fellow ex-guerrilla wife and three-legged dog.

The government announced three days of national mourning and said his body would be taken to the legislative palace on Wednesday to lie in state.

Activists from Mujica’s Movement of Popular Participation (MPP) gathered outside the party’s headquarters to make giant banners marked “Hasta siempre, viejo querido” (Until forever, old friend).

Leftist leaders from across Latin America and Europe paid tribute to the man described by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as an “example for Latin America and the entire world.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva echoed that message.

“His human greatness transcended the borders of Uruguay and his presidential mandate. The wisdom of his words formed a true song of unity and fraternity for Latin America,” Lula said in a statement.

– ‘Like ordinary people’ –

At the Madison, an unassuming corner cafe in central Montevideo, waiter Walter Larus recalled Mujica popping in for a steak shortly after winning office.

“He felt and lived like ordinary people, not like today’s politicians who seem rich,” the 53-year-old said.

In a 2012 AFP interview, Mujica denied being poor, saying his was, rather, a life of “austerity.”

“I need little to live,” he said.

He transformed Uruguay, a prosperous country of 3.4 million people best known for football and ranching, into one of Latin America’s most progressive societies.

In later life, he was disappointed at the authoritarian drift of some left-wing governments, accusing repressive leaders in Venezuela and Nicaragua of “messing things up.”

He was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in May last year, and it spread to his liver.

His wife Lucia Topolansky said this week he was receiving palliative care.

– ‘Humility and greatness’ –

Over the course of five years in power, Mujica legalised abortion and gay marriage and made Uruguay the first country to legalise the use of recreational cannabis.

He continued to campaign for the left after his cancer diagnosis, working fervently on the successful election campaign of history teacher Orsi, his political heir.

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales hailed his “experience and wisdom,” while Brazil’s government bid farewell to “one of the most important humanists of our time.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Mujica had lived for “a better world,” while Guatemala’s Bernardo Arevalo held him up as “an example of humility and greatness.”

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian hailed Mujica as a “renowned leader” and a “good friend of the Chinese people.”

– From prison to politics –

The blunt-spoken, snowy-haired farmer was a fierce critic of consumerism.

He attended official events in sandals and continued living on his small holding on the outskirts of Montevideo, where his prized possession was a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.

In the 1960s, he co-founded the Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla movement Tupamaros, which started out robbing from the rich to give to the poor but later escalated its campaign to kidnappings, bombings and assassinations.

During those years, Mujica lived a life of derring-do. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and took part in a mass prison breakout.

But when the Tupamaros collapsed in 1972, he was recaptured and spent all of Uruguay’s 1973-1985 dictatorship in prison, where he was tortured and spent years in solitary confinement.

After his release, he threw himself into politics and in 1989 founded the MPP, the largest member of the leftist Broad Front coalition.

Elected to congress in 1995, he became a senator in 2000 and then agriculture minister in Uruguay’s first-ever left-wing government.

As president, he was praised for his fight against poverty but criticised for failing to rein in public spending.

He is survived by his wife, Topolansky. They had no children.

Mujica asked to be buried on his farm, next to his dog.

AFP

Headline

Judge Orders Trump White House To Restore Access To Banned Media Outlets

Published

9 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Editor

A US federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore White House access to journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico after the three news organisations challenged their exclusion from the presidential complex.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order early Thursday, directing the White House to immediately return, reinstate and restore the press credentials of journalists from the three outlets.

The ruling followed a lawsuit filed on Monday by CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which challenged President Donald Trump’s decision to bar their reporters from the White House.

Trump announced the ban on September 18, accusing the outlets of repeatedly publishing what he described as “FAKE NEWS” and negative coverage of his administration.

The three organisations argued that the administration’s action violated their First Amendment rights and deprived their journalists of due process under the Fifth Amendment.

In his ruling, Kelly said the outlets were likely to succeed in showing that their press credentials had been revoked without constitutionally adequate due process.

The judge also rejected the administration’s argument that national security concerns justified the restrictions.

“The record lacks factual support for defendants’ contention that the revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes will in fact protect national security or that national security will be endangered if the court orders their passes reinstated while this litigation proceeds,” Kelly wrote.

He also noted that Trump had focused on the outlets’ reporting when announcing the ban rather than national security concerns.

“Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ plaintiffs from the White House—instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of plaintiffs’ reporting,” the judge wrote.

The administration had argued in court that access to the White House was a privilege rather than a right and that the outlets’ reporting raised concerns about national security and professionalism.

The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling.

Trump had previously said he would probably allow the three organisations back into the White House if a court ruled against his decision.

The dispute began when reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were turned away from the White House after their press credentials were revoked.

The decision also affected the White House television pool. CNN had been scheduled to travel with Trump to New York for the United Nations General Assembly as part of the pool, but its removal led the other participating television networks to suspend the pool in solidarity.

Other media organisations also joined the legal challenge indirectly by filing a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the three outlets.

The case now moves forward with the temporary restraining order in place for 14 days. During that period, the court is expected to consider whether longer-lasting relief should be granted.

The ruling comes as Trump faces a series of high-profile events at the White House, including his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The administration and the three news organisations are expected to continue their legal arguments as the court considers the broader dispute over press access and the constitutional rights of journalists covering the president.

(TimeMagazine)

Headline

Man Charged After Fatal Southall Collision

Published

10 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Editor

A 20-year-old man has been charged after a fatal road collision in Southall, west London, which claimed the life of a 17-year-old passenger.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called at about 1:04 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, following reports of a collision involving a Ford Mustang on South Road, Southall.

Officers attended the scene alongside paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and firefighters from the London Fire Brigade.

Despite efforts by emergency responders, 17-year-old passenger Ranbir Singh died at the scene.

His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

Another passenger, a 26-year-old man, sustained serious injuries in the collision and remains in hospital, according to police.

The driver of the vehicle, Sukhveer Singh, 20, of Townsend Road, Southall, was arrested at the scene.

He was subsequently charged on Sunday, September 20, with causing death by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving.

He was also charged with driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and using a vehicle without insurance.

Singh appeared before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Monday, September 21, and was remanded in custody.

He is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday, October 19.

Detective Inspector Fiaz Janjua, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This is a truly tragic incident in which a young man has lost his life and another remains in hospital with serious injuries.

“Our deepest sympathies remain with Ranbir’s family and friends, who continue to be supported by specially trained officers. during this extremely difficult time.

“While a man has now been charged in connection with this collision, our investigation remains ongoing and we are continuing to establish the full circumstances leading up to the incident.

“I would ask anyone who witnessed the collision, the manner of driving beforehand, or the movements of the Ford Mustang in the Southall area during the early hours of Saturday, 19 September, to come forward.”

Police are particularly appealing to anyone who may have CCTV footage, doorbell recordings, mobile phone footage or dashcam recordings that could assist the investigation.

The Met urged anyone with information to contact police on 101, quoting reference 01/8080469/26.

The force said the investigation remains ongoing as detectives work to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision.

(MetPolice)

Headline

Four Nations Back Permanent African Seat On UN Security Council

Published

13 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Editor

Four nations, Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, have backed a permanent African seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calling for urgent reform of the Council to reflect contemporary geopolitical realities.

The four countries, under the Group of Four (G4), made their position known in a joint statement issued after their foreign ministers met in New York on Tuesday on the margins of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

The ministers said reform of the Security Council had become more necessary than ever, given the increasingly challenging global geopolitical environment.

They said the Council was currently unable to effectively discharge its core responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, with its representativeness, legitimacy, credibility and efficacy in question.

According to them, the Council’s eight-decade-old structure was “not reflective of contemporary geopolitical realities” and had become an impediment to addressing present and future challenges to international peace and security.

The ministers stressed that expansion of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories was central to meaningful reform.

They called for greater representation of under-represented and unrepresented regions and groups, particularly Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The four nations also welcomed the reform model presented by the African Group during the Inter-governmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform in the 80th session of the General Assembly.

They reaffirmed their support for Africa’s case for enhanced representation on the Security Council, including in the permanent category.

The ministers, however, expressed concern over the slow pace of negotiations, noting that the IGN process had produced no concrete outcome towards substantive Security Council reform despite 18 years of discussions.

They also expressed reservations over the presentation of what they described as a “bridging proposal” before the commencement of text-based negotiations.

According to them, the proposal failed to take into account the position of a clear majority of UN member states in favour of expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories.

The ministers further maintained that consensus should not be the benchmark for decision-making on Security Council reform, citing the UN Charter and the mandate of the IGN.

They said Brazil, Germany, India and Japan would work with other reform-oriented groups to develop a consolidated model that reflects the views of the majority of UN member states.

The four countries said commencing text-based negotiations should be treated as a priority towards achieving substantive reform of the Security Council.

They said this would help restore the Council’s representativeness, legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness, while strengthening the multilateral system with the UN at its centre.

The ministers also said discussions on reform should not be restricted to the IGN, expressing willingness to engage the wider UN membership through other platforms, including the General Assembly.

They pledged to continue coordinating closely during the 81st session of the General Assembly and directed their officials to follow up on the discussions.

Progress on the issue is expected to be reviewed at the next Director General-level meeting in New Delhi.