Tens of thousands of people attend the wake of José ‘Pepe’ Mujica in Montevideo

Thousands of people on Wednesday formed a row that served around the Legislative Palace of Uruguay. They waited for up to two hours to fire José Pepe Mujica, who died the day before 89, victim of cancer. The ranks will continue for a good part of Thursday, in which it will be the last day of a massive wake. In the Hall of Lost Steps of Congress the authorities of the country paraded throughout the day, headed by the president, Yamandú Orsi, companions of the route of Mujica and Uruguayos on foot who left flowers before the closed coffin, a photo or a flag. The arrival of the presidents of Brazil and Chile is expected, who took their trip to Montevideo because the news of Mujica’s death found them at a Celac summit in China.

The remains of Mujica toured Montevideo aboard a carriage thrown by six black horses and the custody of the militants of the popular participation movement, the MPP, the former president’s party within the Frente Amplio, now in the government. Three hours later, the procession reached Parliament, where the wake was installed. Uruguay is an extremely secular country: there were no crosses, burning candles or any other religious symbol. Only Uruguay’s shield served as a framework for a silent and orderly ceremony, according to the character.

For the Congress, former presidents Julio María Sanguinetti, Luis Lacalle Herrera and Luis Lacalle Pou, all of them fierce political opponents of Mujica. Yamandú Orsi received them with a hug. Álvaro Delgado also joined, the candidate of the National Party who lost the last elections. Samples of political concord as these are common in the South American country and proud of the Uruguayans.

Lucía Topolansky, widow of Mujica and former vice president, accompanied the courtship through the city, but was barely in Congress. The role of host had Orsi, political dolphin of the deceased president. “In this country that is grown so much that no one is more than anyone, he embodied it in a wonderful way,” he said in an impromptu press conference. “It was an equal, then, from there, that greatness of someone who traced objectives and was able to have dialogue with a king and a tambo pawn,” he added.

With Mujica, the last of the generation of leaders who turned the Broad Front into a left -wing coalition with electoral strength and government capacity was left. In 2020 Tabaré Vázquez died, the first frentista to get to power after the end of the dictatorship, and in 2023 Danilo Astori, vice president of Mujica, left. Before he died, the former president said he was calm because he left “the very high bar” and in the hands of politicians who trusted.

Congress was expected to be open all night, but in the afternoon it was decided to close it after 23.00. It will open again around 10 am on Thursday. The Uruguayan government expects the arrival of Brazilian Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, personal friend of Mujica. The bad news from Uruguay found him in Beijing, participating together with the Chilean Gabriel Boric and President Colombia, Gustavo Petro, a ministerial summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and China. “Until always, friend. Pepe, here we will continue with thousands of arms in the fight for a more fair world,” Lula posted on his social networks. Orsi’s intention is to extend the wake at least until the arrival of the Brazilian.

Boric will also travel to Montevideo this Thursday, as a representative of the new Latin American left. The visit of the Colombian Petro is, however, in doubt, despite the good harmony that the Colombian had with Mujica. It happens that the Parliament of his country turned a popular consultation for a labor reform on Wednesday and the president was engaged in a hard dispute with the opposition.

After the day and a half of wake, the remains of Mujica will be cremated and buried under a tree located near his country house in Rincón del Cerro. The site chose Mujica months ago, partly because that house is its place in the world, he did not abandon even when in 2010 he swore as president, and partly because there also rests Manuela, the legendary three -legged bitch that accompanied him during the last years of his life.