Lula hugged Mujica's widow and companion in the struggle, Lucía Topolansky, and planted a kiss on her forehead  (Photo: AP)

“A person like Pepe Mujica doesn’t die,” Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said as he paid his respects to his longtime friend, at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo where his body lay in state, eulogizing him as a “superior human being.” 

 

Montevideo, May 15 (RHC)--The Legislative Palace, where the remains of former Uruguayan President José "Pepe" Mujica were laid to rest, closed its doors at 4:40 PM (local time) to begin the private ceremony in tribute to the life of the man recognized as the most austere revolutionary.

The final farewell words were given by writer, playwright, and former Tupamaro guerrilla Mauricio Rosencof, a personal friend of Mujica, who recalled the moments they spent together during the period of struggle for their ideals.

"We reinvented Morse code with the rap of our knuckles," Rosencof recalled, sitting in front of Mujica's coffin, referring to the time they were imprisoned with Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro, and they would knock on the cell walls to communicate.

Rosencof also recalled a poem he wrote to send to his fellow prisoners, who were also imprisoned during the dictatorship.  He referred to Mujica's interest in literature and his love of Cervantes's Don Quixote.  He also concluded his remarks with a poem of his own dedicated to Mujica: "And if this were my last poem, rebellious and sad, threadbare but whole, I would write only one word: comrade."

After the tribute, the Honor Guard removed the coffin from the Hall of Lost Steps to proceed with Mujica's final wish: to be cremated and have his ashes scattered on his farm, under the tree where the remains of his dog Manuela also rest.

Before the official departure of the funeral procession, the coffin was placed on the steps of the Legislative Palace, where the assembled audience sang the song "A Don José," written by poet Rubén Lena in tribute to the national hero José Artigas.

For their part, the audience applauded and chanted: "Olé, olé, olé Pepe" and "Pepe, now and always."

Mujica died on Tuesday, May 13th, after a long battle with esophageal cancer, which was discovered in 2024 and spread to his liver, causing his health to worsen in the last week.

The former president is considered an icon of the Latin American left, known for his austerity, humanist thinking, and commitment to social justice.