For a change, no praise for the poorest president

'I'm not the poorest president,' says media darling Jose Mujica — the president of Uruguay.

“I’m not the poorest president. The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live. My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds,” says media darling Jose Mujica — the president of Uruguay. He lives in a farm owned by his wife and gives away almost 90 per cent of his salary to charity. His policies, if the media is to be believed, are just as inspiring. Mujica has overseen legislations which legalise cannabis and abortion. However, his reform to legalise cannabis is also met with a mixed reaction from Uruguayans as they feel much more pressing issues go neglected.

But let’s bring the spotlight to what the ground in Uruguay looks like. According to a recent study, education standards in Uruguay are at their worst in over a decade. While Mujica has continued his predecessor’s ‘a-laptop-for-every-student policy’, there has been little else in terms of educational reforms. As many a Punjabi kids will testify, giving free laptops to students doesn’t equate to better education.

Moreover, Uruguay — formerly reputed as one of the safest countries in the region — has now experienced a sharp rise in organised crime. Something that the ‘world’s poorest president’, while basking in much media attention, seems reluctant to address or even acknowledge.

Mujica’s foreign policy has also left a lot to be desired. The outspoken Mujica has publicly criticised the leaders of Argentina and Venezuela, further straining the relations between the countries. Look further into the claims of him giving 90 per cent of his money to charity and one realises that even there, not all is rosy. One of the organisations that receive part of his salary as a donation is a fund that ‘administrates Mujica’s political movement’.

While the ‘90 per cent’ number seems consistent with all reports, the actual amount that he donates changes, depending on who you ask. The Huffington Post even claims that Mujica doesn’t have a bank account — hardly a believable claim, considering that it means that the president is being paid in cash.

Mujica’s past is often overlooked when he is profiled. Before entering politics, Mujica was a Guerrilla leader for the notorious Tupamaros movement – an armed group involved in the killings of numerous innocent civilians and particularly noted for armed robberies.

He may have reformed into a good man but the verdict of whether the poor president is not indeed a poor president is still out there.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.