The Uruguayan government has declared three days of national mourning in honor of the late former President Jose "Pepe" Mujica.

Jose Mujica, a one-time guerrilla and later president of Uruguay who drove a beat-up VW Beetle and enacted progressive reforms that carried his reputation well beyond South America, has died aged 89.

The former guerrilla who governed Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 earned his nickname because of his modest lifestyle.