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.

Mujica, a former Marxist guerrilla known by the nickname ‘Pepe’, became a beloved figure for his simple lifestyle.

Uruguay’s former President José Mujica, a leftist icon known for his progressive social reforms, died on Tuesday at the age of 89.