Mujica Returning Home (Photo : Reuters)
Uruguayan President Jose "Pepe" Mujica handed over office to the president elect Tabare Vasquez on Sunday, reported ABC News .
Vasquez had been president from 2005 to 2010. Mujica had been president of Uruguay after the first term of Vasquez had been completed. Under Uruguay's constitution a president may not hold office for successive terms, reports Russia Today.
Mujica was president from 2010 until last year. The latest election for the president's office was held in November 2014 and Vazquez was elected the next President in this election.
Mujica was a flower grower and leader of the guerrilla group Tupamaro. He spent 13 years in prison, often in solitary confinement.
He famously did not live in Montevideo's presidential palace during his term as president, but on a farm on the outskirts of the city. He also famously donated nearly 90% of his salary to charity.
Mujica has left office in a situation where his approval ratings are reputed to be well over 65%. Of course the possibility of him continuing as president did not arise at this time because the current Uruguayan constitution does not permit a person to be president for 2 consecutive terms.
The economy has generally seen good numbers over Mujica's term as president. GDP has expanded progressively and government debt has been heading in the right direction, i.e., down. However, there are certain steps that have dominated media space during his presidency.
One story is the legalization of marijuana. As a consequence of the failure of the anti-drug war to root-out marijuana completely, Mujica has backed a plan to legalize the market for marijuana.
Vasquez, the new president, used to be an oncologist by profession. He has committed to continuing with Mujica's policies regarding marijuana. But he has also said that he will monitor progress and intervene should the current marijuana policy turn out to have too many negative consequences.
