Some world leaders live in palaces. Some enjoy perks like having a discreet butler, a fleet of yachts or a wine cellar with vintage Champagnes. Then there is José Mujica,
the former guerrilla who is Uruguay’s president. He lives in a run-down
house on Montevideo’s outskirts with no servants at all. His security
detail: two plainclothes officers parked on a dirt road.
In a deliberate statement to this cattle-exporting nation of 3.3 million
people, Mr. Mujica, 77, shunned the opulent Suárez y Reyes presidential
mansion, with its staff of 42, remaining instead in the home where he
and his wife have lived for years, on a plot of land where they grow
chrysanthemums for sale in local markets.
