The President Of Uruguay Plans To Adopt '30 To 40 Poor Children'
The 78-year-old leader said he envisions putting his plan into place when he steps down as president, a position he has served in since 2010.
"I have the goal of getting together 30 or 40 poor kids and bringing them to live with me," he said Friday night at a business diner, according to the El Observador newspaper.
"Pepe" Mujica, an easy-going, unorthodox leader who refuses to wear a tie, has no children of his own. He is often described in international media as the "poorest president in the world," an allusion to his very modest lifestyle.
He turns over nearly 90 percent of his presidential salary to social programs and he eschewed the presidential palace to live with his wife, Senator Lucia Topolansky, in their old farm outside Montevideo, where he dedicates himself to horticulture.
Mujica made headlines in recent days when lawmakers passed on December 10 his marijuana-legalization proposal, making Uruguay the first nation in the world to oversee the production and sale of the drug.
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