Former Uruguayan President José Mujica, a onetime Marxist guerilla and flower farmer whose radical brand of democracy, plain-spoken philosophy and simple lifestyle fascinated people around the world,

José “Pepe” Mujica, a Marxist guerrilla who became president of the Uruguayan state he had tried to overthrow before transforming into a global phenom for his plain-spoken adages and no-frills lifestyle,

Uruguay’s former President José Mujica, who governed the country from 2010 to 2015 and was a leftist icon known for his progressive social reforms, died on Tuesday at the age of 89, President Yamandú Orsi said on X.