The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, This Thursday in Uruguay he decorated his friend and former president Jose Mujica (2010-2015), whom he emotionally referred to as the “most extraordinary” person he had ever met.
“A brother is not chosen, nor is a mother, but a partner is. “He is the companion I chose,” he said, with reddened eyes, next to his friend, after awarding him the Great Collar of the National Order of Cruzeiro do Sul, the highest decoration of the country.
Lula, who traveled to the country to attend the Mercosur summit, highlighted that during his political career he had met “many, many presidents,” but he placed the Uruguayan on another level and said that he was not decorating him for having been president of Uruguay but rather for the fact of being as it is.
Mujica, who received the president at the modest rural property he has on the outskirts of Montevideo, said that he was not a “man of awards” but thanked him for the gesture.
“I am a man of the people who has done what he could for his people and nothing more, but Lula is a friend of many years“He stated, standing and leaning on a cane, at 90 years old.
Mujica added that the Brazilian was “one of the best” that Latin America has seen, “a rich continent with too many poor people,” and wished him a long life and that he “repeat,” in reference to the upcoming elections in 2026, for which Lula has not yet confirmed his candidacy.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Uruguayan dropped into a plastic chair in front of the house and, pointing to the large golden necklace that had just been placed around his neck, said to an assistant: “Take this off for me.”
A few hours before Lula’s visit, Mujica received another progressive leader, the Colombian president Gustavo Petrowho awarded him the Order of Boyacá.
The Uruguayan announced in April that he had a tumor in his esophagus, which provoked a shower of support from Latin American progressivism, but in August he explained that he was recovering thanks to radiotherapy treatment.
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