Latin America's leftist leaders remember Uruguay's 'Pepe' Mujica as generous, charismatic leader

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — In the soaring palace of Uruguay’s parliament, leftist presidents from the region came to remember former President José Mujica on Thursday as a generous and charismatic leader whose legacy of humility remained an example for the world’s politicians.

“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, widely known as Pepe, at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo where his body lay in state, eulogizing the onetime Marxist guerrilla who spent over a decade in prison in the 1970s as a “superior human being.”

“His body is gone. But the ideas he put forward over the years demonstrate the generosity of a man who spent 14 years in prison and managed to emerge without hatred toward the people who imprisoned and tortured him,” Lula said.

Approaching the coffin, tears streamed down his face. Lula pulled Mujica’s lifelong partner and fellow politician, 80-year-old Lucía Topolansky, into a hug and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Mujica, a member of Uruguay's leftist Broad Front coalition elected in 2009, and Lula, the standard-bearer of Brazil's Workers’ Party who started his second term in 2007, belonged to a generation of leftist leaders elected to office across Latin America in the early years of this century.

The movement's power faded more recently as some leftist populist governments became embroiled in corruption scandals. But Mujica stood out for keeping his reputation for honesty and humility intact.

“It's the end of an era. I think Mujica represented one of the last figures of that ‘pink tide’ that rose in the region in the 2000s,” said Juan Cruz Díaz, a political analyst who runs the Cefeidas Group, a consultancy in Buenos Aires. “The global impact and iconic figure of President Mujica is probably irreplaceable.”

Lula often met Mujica in his three-room farmhouse on the outskirts of Montevideo, where, after retiring from the Senate, the former president tended to his chrysanthemums and dispensed wisdom to a range of visitors — from rock band Aerosmith to philosopher Noam Chomsky.

It's also where Mujica died at age 89 on Tuesday, after more than a year spent battling esophageal cancer.

Another leftist leader paying tribute to Mujica in Montevideo on Thursday was Chile's president, Gabriel Boric.

On learning of Mujica's death on Tuesday, both Boric and Lula jetted to Uruguay from Beijing, where they had been meeting Chinese officials.

They were received by Uruguay's moderate left-wing president, Yamandú Orsi, who was Mujica's preferred candidate in last fall's presidential elections.

“Life goes on, causes remain,” Boric wrote on social media. “Thank you, dear Pepe, we will carry you with us in every fight.”

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Chile's President Gabriel Boric offers condolences to Lucia Topolansky, widow of former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, during funeral ceremonies at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, May 15, 2025. Second from right is Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi and his wife Laura Alonsopere, right. I(AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Uruguay's President Yamandu Orsi, back left, his wife Laura Alonsoperez, second from left, and Lucia Topolansky, the widow of late former President Jose Mujica, watch the honor guard carry his casket after funeral ceremonies at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, right, and Chile's President Gabriel Boric embrace during funeral ceremonies for former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

The casket of late former President Jose Mujica stands outside the Legislative Palace after funeral ceremonies in Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva kisses Lucia Topolansky, widow of former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, during funeral ceremonies for the late leader at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)