If Las Vegas took bets on who will win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 (they probably do), you’d be a fool to wager against José Mujica. As the President Of Uruguay, he has spent the last three years turning the once under spoken country into a haven of human rights that’s making most world leaders blush. His secret? He is nothing like most leaders.
Since taking office in 2010, Mujica has taken a monthly salary of only $12,000, of which he donates around 90% to charity. In comparison, president Obama is set to have an annual wage of $400,000 in 2014.
When he was offered a presidential palace as his homestead, he instead chose to remain on his small farm and continue driving his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.
Mujica’s security detail includes two guards positioned on the road approaching his house and his three legged dog, Manjula. On the other hand, the Secret Service, tasked with protecting the current and former Presidents of the US, has a budget of $1.8 billion for 2014.
His humble lifestyle is an extension of his love and honesty, which have shaped the change in Uruguay. In August, 2013, he legalized same-sex marriage in the country. In December, 2013, he legalized marijuana. On top of all of this, he's enacted abortion rights laws and sharply increased the use of renewable energy in the country.
It's refreshing to hear about such positivity in politics.
Not impressed yet? Try this - in his younger years, Mujica fought against his country's military Government to gain rights for his countrymen. He was imprisoned twice and shot six times in his struggle which saw him robbing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Mujica admits that he doesn’t like being called the world’s poorest president, stating that “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, who is poor.” If the world had more leaders like this man, there’s no doubt that it would be a far better place.
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