Feature: "World's poorest president" Mujica wraps up term in Uruguay

Jose Mujica, Uruguay's beloved outgoing president, is leaving office in his characteristically unique fashion.

Later Friday, two days before his successor's swearing-in ceremony, "I will be giving a symbolic hug to all of the Uruguayan people," Mujica, 79, wrote on his website (www.pepemujica.uy).

"I will be saying thank you to all our fellow countrymen, for having accompanied me these past five years and I will be asking for their utmost cooperation for the incoming government," he told a ceremony at the Independence Plaza of the capital Montevideo that day.

Arguably the "world's poorest president" who is known in Uruguay simply as "Pepe", the former guerrilla-turned-president has built a reputation as an "authentic public servant" since he took office in March 2010.

Throughout his tenure, Mujica donated 90 percent of his salaries to a government social housing program, while he and his wife, also a former leftist activist, have continued to live on their modest farm on the outskirts of the capital.

"I'm not poor. Poor are those who need a lot to live, those are the real poor. I have enough," Mujica said in a May 2013 interview with Xinhua.

One of Mujica's most important reforms that sparked controversy was to decriminalize the marijuana trade and place it under state supervision, a scheme that is still underway.

His argument, which convinced lawmakers, was that Latin America's long-time policy of waging an anti-drug war had failed and it was time to try a different approach. The president also spearheaded the legalization of gay marriage.

However, he was unable to secure the much-needed investment for infrastructure projects such as reviving the country's aging railways or building a planned deep-sea port on the Atlantic coast. He was also unable to push through his proposed education reforms.

Nevertheless, observers agree that the president has managed the economy responsibly, allowing it to grow at rates above 3 percent. His policies also cut poverty by 11.5 percent and slashed unemployment by 6.6 percent. He also led an energy diversification program that established wind farms.

Mujica came to power as the candidate of the left-leaning Broad Front (FA) coalition, but has maintained dialogue with the opposition.

Under his rule, once-isolated Uruguay has also forged closer ties with regional neighbors, notably Argentina, with which it had frosty relations due to an environmental dispute.

Mujica, who leaves office with a 65-percent approval rating, will continue to be active in politics, being elected senator in the October general elections that brought the Broad Front to power once again.

"If my body allows, there will be no retirement," he told radio station Oceano FM. "Not because I'll be in the Senate, but because I'm addicted to militancy. I began as a militant at the age of 14 and now I can't stop." Endi