AREQUIPA, Peru -Former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica (2010-2015) was admitted to the Casmu sanatorium in Montevideo on Thursday. This is his third hospitalization in less than two weeks.
Raquel Pannone, the former president’s personal physician, participated in a press conference reported by the EFE agencyin which he explained that Mujica began to be rehydrated after the little liquid intake he was receiving.
“Pepe is back in the hospital. The reason for his transfer to the hospital this time is that he was receiving very little oral fluid at home and was not receiving any enough food“That was the reason for transferring him,” the doctor explained.
The situation is not serious, according to the specialist. She added that he was given tests and started to be rehydrated intravenously, which has had an “almost immediate” effect on him.
The former president will also undergo health tests to determine his current situation, sources close to the case said, quoted by Montevideo Portal.
Pannone stressed that Mujica has pre-existing conditions such as kidney failure, which “worsens” with the lack of fluid intake.
Last week, the former president was also admitted to the hospital for eating problems caused by the radiotherapy treatment he received months ago, due to a malignant tumor in the esophagus.
Mujica, 89, was diagnosed during a routine medical check-up and advertisement that the tumor discovered in his esophagus was particularly dangerous because he also suffers from an autoimmune disease.
“I love life and I am losing it”
In an interview with The New York Timesrevealed that he does not have much hope regarding his current situation.
“Life is beautiful. With all its twists and turns, I love life. And I am losing it because I am at the point of leaving. What is the meaning of life that we can give it?” she told the prestigious newspaper.
In his conversation with the journalist from Montevideo, he said that he had undergone radiology treatment and according to the doctors, it turned out well: “But I am devastated,” he added.
Better known as “Pepe” Mujica, the former president governed Uruguay between 2010 and 2015.
Although Mujica left the Senate in 2020, he remained politically active in the Frente Amplio, a coalition of leftist and centrist social-democratic parties.
In revealing his illness, he promised that cancer would not stop him from continuing to promote the causes he supports.
This year, when general elections are due to be held in Uruguay, Mujica has said he will remain faithful to his ideals and dedicate himself to working the land.
“I want to tell you that in my life, more than once, the Grim Reaper has been hanging around my bed. But he has continued to shepherd me all these years. Surely, for obvious reasons, this time it seems to me that I am coming with the scythe in hand. We will see what happens,” he said.
