Jose Mujica is the current President of Uruguay. He is a former guerilla fighter and a member of the Broad Front coalition of left-wing parties. He used to be Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries between 2005 and 2008 then he became a Senator afterwards. He won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the Broad Front and he assumed his office on March 1, 2010.

Born on May 20, 1935 in Montevideo, Uruguay, Jose Alberto Mujica Cordano, he is also known by the name Pepe. At a young age, he was already active in the National Party, a right wing conservative party and he even got close to Enrique Erro. However, his beliefs shifted from conservative to extreme left in the early 1960's when he joined the MLN-T, or Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional – Tupamaros (Tupamaros National Liberation Movement). With his association with the Tupamaros, he spent 14 years in prison. He was also convicted of killing a policeman in 1971 though he still claimed his innocence. In 1985, with the restoration of democracy in Uruguay, he was released from prison and the Tupamaros was reorganized as a political party.

Described as a radical socialist by his political opponents, Mujica claims that his positions are moderate and is opposed to government intervention in economy. Since he became President, he deliberately avoided the state palace and continued to live in his modest pre-Presidential rental home. He has been described as “the world’s poorest president” with his only declared asset, a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle that is worth about $1,900. He also donated almost 90 percent of his $12,000 monthly charities to benefit the poor people and small entrepreneurs.