Jose Mujica: ' I earn more than
I need '
Last updated : 26 October 2013
The man described as the world 's 'poorest
president' discusses Uruguay 's move to
legalise marijuana.
President Jose Mujica , the world 's
'poorest ' president , has surprised the
world by making Uruguay the first country
to entirely legalise marijuana.
A law already passed in the lower house
of Congress and expected to pass in the
Senate later this year would make
Uruguay the first country in the world to
license and enforce rules for the
production, distribution and sale of
marijuana for adult consumers.
Uruguay is hoping to act as a potential test
case for an idea slowly gaining steam
across Latin America - that the legalisation
and regulation of some drugs
could combat the cartel violence
devastating much of the region .
The thing is I have a way of life that I
don 't change just because I am a
president. I earn more than I need, even
if it 's not enough for others.
President Jose Mujica
Mujica's recent speech to the UN General
Assembly denouncing excess and frivolity,
also received global attention :
"We have sacrificed the old immaterial
Gods, and now we are occupying the
temple of the Market - God. He organises
our economy , our politics, our habits, our
lives and even provides us with rates and
credit cards and gives us the appearance
of happiness," he said.
"It seems that we have been born only to
consume, and to consume, and when we
can no longer consume, we have a feeling
of frustration and we suffer from poverty ,
and we are auto marginalised . "
He may look like a working class
grandfather , but 78 -year - old Mujica is a
man with a powerful message , a leader
who is a one of a kind.
Also known as Pepe Mujica, he refused to
move to the luxurious house the
Uruguayan state provides for its leaders ,
and chose instead to stay in the modest
home he shares with his senator wife in
the capital.
His lifestyle and the fact that he donates
90 percent of his salary to charity has
earned him the label 'the poorest
president in the world '.
"Those who describe me so are the poor
ones ," he says . "My definition of poor are
those who need too much . Because those
who need too much are never satisfied . "
Mujica is a man who practices the
simplicity he preaches and never minces
words, a style some of his countrymen
criticise as unpresidential, but which
makes him a hero to others.
On this episode of Talk to Al
Jazeera , President Jose Mujica discusses
his peculiar approach towards marijuana
and drug trafficking, his particular way of
living and understanding life, and the
repercussions the country 's new policies,
if approved, might have in the region .

http://m.aljazeera.com/story/2013102294729420734