Uruguay's former president Jose "Pepe" Mujica, a guerrilla fighter and hero of the Latin American left, has died at the age of 89, the government in Montevideo said Tuesday.

Former Uruguayan President José Mujica, a onetime Marxist guerilla and flower farmer whose radical brand of democracy, plain-spoken philosophy and simple lifestyle fascinated people around the world,

José "Pepe" Mujica, former president of Uruguay and a symbol of the Latin American left, died Tuesday at the age of 89 in Montevideo after a battle with esophageal cancer. "With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of Pepe Mujica.