In a terminal state, Mujica receives palliative care

Former Uruguayan president, José Pepe Mujica, 89, is under palliative and terminal care due to the worsening of esophagus cancer. The announcement was made by his wife, Lucía Topolansky on Monday (12).

According to former first lady, Mujica “is at its end” and doctors are “trying to make this happen in the best way possible.” She added that “this is already an announced ending.” The statements were made to the Uruguayan newspaper La Diaria.

“I’ve been with him for over 40 years and I’ll be with him to the end. That’s what I promised. What we try to do is preserve our family’s privacy, but with a character like Pepe, it’s kind of impossible,” he said.

Given the gravity of the picture, the current president and political heir of Mujica, Yamandu Orsi, said, also on Monday: “We must all contribute to ensure that dignity is the key to all phases of our lives. We should not go crazy, we must leave it alone.”

Also read: The warrior is entitled to his rest, says Mujica

In January, Mujica announced that he would no longer perform the treatment, as the disease had irreversibly spread. He asked doctors not to let him “suffer in vain.”

At the time, he explained: “Cancer in my esophagus is spreading to my liver. I can’t stop him with anything. Why? Because I’m an old man and because I have two chronic diseases. I can’t do a biochemical treatment, nor surgery because my body can’t stand it.”

One of the chronic problems faced by the former president is an immunological disease, which he has been in over 20 years and affected his kidneys, generating complications in treatment.

At that moment, Pepe also stated that he intended to spend his last moments of life in peace and would not give anymore interview. “I am dying. The warrior is entitled to his rest,” he said.

Born on May 20, 1935, José Pepe Mujica is one of the most important figures of world politics and has a trajectory marked by the struggle for the rights and equality of the peoples of Latin America. Under its government, Uruguay has made important advances in the social and human and civil rights field.

Also read: “He is the most extraordinary person I met,” says Lula when he honored Mujica

As a member of the resistance movement and fight against dictatorship, the Tupamarós, Mujica was arrested on more than one occasion for opposing the authoritarian regime.

The longest arrest extended from 1972 to 1985. And 25 years after its liberation and the conquest of democracy in 2010, Mujica became president of Uruguay by Front, a left movement that has been making important transformations in Uruguay, a country with the best rates of human and social development in the region.

His commitment to social causes, his simplicity and his wisdom are marks that make him one of the big names in history.