31/08/2020
World's poorest president reveals how much he spent on charity
During his five years as the head of Uruguay, Jose Mujica has not saved anything. His property today is estimated at only 200 thousand dollars. But he gave almost half a million dollars from his salary to social projects.
On January 9, 2015, the President of the Latin American state of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, said in an interview with reporters that during his five-year term as head of the country, he spent $ 550,000 on charity. Information about this appeared on the RIA Novosti website.
And it wasn't money earned from commercial companies. He gave the lion's share of his own presidential salary to social needs. Most (about 400 thousand) were transferred to the fund for the construction of housing for social needs, and the remaining 150 thousand - for the development of their own party. As a result, according to the latest income statement, by the end of the presidential term, all the assets and savings of the Jose Mujica family are estimated at only $ 200,000. In his last interview, the President of Uruguay also spoke about the free market economy. He said that, in his opinion, the state should not allow wealth that appears spontaneously, albeit according to market laws, to remain in the hands of a small group of people. If we allow this, then there will be two parallel societies: one is super-rich, and the other, left on the sidelines of life. Note that even before the current news, Jose Mujica was considered one of the most generous and unusual heads of state in the world. His compatriots even named their head the poorest president in the world.
Some skeptics argue that this is only possible in small and poor states. However, Uruguay, contrary to popular belief, is far from the most backward country in the world. In terms of the share of GDP per capita, it ranks 3rd among all Latin American states and 44th in the world. Uruguay's foreign trade is based on livestock and agricultural products. The population is about 3.5 million. Of these, three quarters work in the service sector, 15% in industry and 9% in agriculture. The average life expectancy for men is 73 years, for women - 80. This is significantly higher than the world average.
