Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica says he has esophageal cancer
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Jose Mujica, the former president of Uruguay known for his bold socialist agenda, said Monday he has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
Mujica, 88, said the tumor was discovered during a routine checkup last Friday. He said the diagnosis compounds his health problems as he also suffers from an autoimmune disease.
“This is obviously very complicated and doubly so in my case,” the former president said at a news conference.
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Better known as “Pepe” Mujica, the former president, once a Marxist guerrilla, governed Uruguay from 2010 and 2015, during which he made a broad effort to liberalize Uruguay’s laws.
His government was best known for legalizing same-sex marriage in the predominantly Roman Catholic country and making Uruguay the first nation in the world to fully legalize recreational marijuana.
The Associated Press