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Ouch! Fish bone lands Uruguay's ex-president 'Pepe' Mujica in hospital

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/04/28/jose.jpg"/><figcaption>Former Uruguayan president Jose &#x27;&#x27;Pepe&#x27;&#x27; Mujica attends the presentation of his first book &#x27;&#x27;La felicità al potere&#x27;&#x27; in Rome on May 28,2015.</figcaption></figure></div><p>MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Uruguay&#x27;s leftist ex-president Jose Mujica, 85, will undergo surgery for a fish bone lodged in his throat, staff at the hospital where he was admitted told AFP.</p><p>The former guerilla fighter, known during his term as the world&#x27;s &quot;poorest&quot; president, will go under the knife later Tuesday for what his personal physician said was a &quot;minor&quot; procedure.</p><p>&quot;Tomorrow he&#x27;ll be back home,&quot; the doctor, Raquel Pannone, told El Pais newspaper.</p><p>Attempts to remove the bone without anesthesia were unsuccessful, according to local media.</p><p>Mujica became a cult figure during his 2010-15 rule, known for giving away most of his salary and driving an old Volkswagen Beetle.</p><p>He remains a figurehead of the Broad Front, the leftist coalition in power from 2005 until it was ousted in 2019 elections by center-right leader Luis Lacalle Pou.</p><p>Last October, Mujica resigned from frontline politics, quitting his Senate seat amid the coronavirus epidemic, saying a weakened immune system put him at risk and staying in the office was no alternative to going out and meeting people.</p><p>&quot;Honestly, I&#x27;m going because the pandemic is tossing me out,&quot; he said at the time.</p><p>Mujica was part of the MLN-Tupumaros rebels that waged an insurgency during the 1960s and 70s against democratic governments.</p><p>Many Uruguayans blamed them for provoking the 1973 military coup that ushered in a dictatorship that lasted until 1985.</p><p>Mujica spent a decade in prison during that time, much of it in solitary confinement.</p><div><strong>gv/mps/mlr/st</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1673206" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Uruguay's leftist ex-president Jose Mujica, 85, will undergo surgery for a fish bone lodged in his throat, staff at the hospital where he was admitted told AFP.</p>

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Uruguay's leftist ex-president Jose Mujica, 85, will undergo surgery for a fish bone lodged in his throat, staff at the hospital where he was admitted told AFP.