Dear Editor,
As Guyana prepares to go to the polls for elections, what if we had a candidate like Jose Mujica running for the presidency of Guyana?
Jose Mujica was the world’s poorest president. 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 monthly salary to charities that benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs.
Editor, who is Jose Mujica? According to Wikipedia, Jose Alberto “Pepe” Mujica Cordano was born 20 May 1935 and served as the 40th President of Uruguay from 2010-2015.
A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was imprisoned for 12 years. Ten years was spent in solitary confinement, locked away in a deep well and unable to see or talk with anyone for years.
However Editor, living in the well would later change the trajectory of his life, career and the way he sees the future, money, people and world. It led him into living an austere lifestyle and a great love for poor people.
As a result of living in a well, when he became president, he declined to live in the presidential palace or to use its staff. He remained living on his farm in a small two-bedroom old house. Because of this, he has drawn worldwide attention for his unique lifestyle.
During his presidency, he used a 1987 Volkswagen Beetle as a means of transportation, declining to use any of the presidential vehicles and bodyguards. In 2010, the value of the car was $1800 U.S. dollars and represented the entirety of the mandatory annual personal wealth declaration filed by Mr. Mujica for that year.
Editor, I ask this question again: what if we had a presidential candidate like Jose Mujica running for the presidency of Guyana?
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
