[custom_adv] José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician who served as the 40th President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was imprisoned for 13 years during the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s [custom_adv] A member of the Broad Front coalition of left-wing parties, Mujica was Minister of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries from 2005 to 2008 and a Senator afterwards. [custom_adv] As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as President on 1 March 2010. [custom_adv] He has been described as "the world's humblest head of state" due to his austere lifestyle and his donation of around 90 percent of his $12,000 monthly salary to charities that benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs. [custom_adv] His mother's parents were very poor immigrants from Liguria. Lucy Cordano was born in Carmelo, where her parents had bought 2 hectares (4.9 acres) in Colonia Jose to cultivate vineyards. [custom_adv] Between the ages of 13 and 17, Mujica cycled for several clubs in different categories. He was also active in the National Party, where he became close to Enrique Erro. [custom_adv] In the mid-1960s, he joined the newly formed MLN-Tupamaros movement, an armed political group inspired by the Cuban Revolution.
