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鈥淗is body is gone. But the ideas he put forward over the years demonstrate the generosity of a man who spent 14 years in prison and managed to emerge without hatred toward the people who imprisoned and tortured him,鈥� Lula said.

Approaching the coffin, tears streamed down his face. Lula pulled Mujica鈥檚 lifelong partner and fellow politician, 80-year-old Luc铆a Topolansky, into a hug and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Mujica, a member of Uruguay’s leftist Broad Front coalition elected in 2009, and Lula, the standard-bearer of Brazil’s Workers鈥� Party who started his second term in 2007, belonged to a generation of leftist leaders elected to office across Latin America in the early years of this century.

The movement’s power faded more recently as some leftist populist governments became embroiled in corruption scandals. But Mujica stood out for keeping his reputation for honesty and humility intact.

鈥淚t’s the end of an era. I think Mujica represented one of the last figures of that 鈥榩ink tide鈥� that rose in the region in the 2000s,鈥� said Juan Cruz D铆az, a political analyst who runs the Cefeidas Group, a consultancy in Buenos Aires. 鈥淭he global impact and iconic figure of President Mujica is probably irreplaceable.鈥�

Lula often met Mujica in his three-room farmhouse on the outskirts of Montevideo, where, after retiring from the Senate, the former president tended to his chrysanthemums and dispensed wisdom to a range of visitors 鈥� from rock band Aerosmith to philosopher Noam Chomsky.

It’s also where Mujica died at age 89 on Tuesday, after more than a year spent battling esophageal cancer.

Another leftist leader paying tribute to Mujica in Montevideo on Thursday was .

On learning of Mujica’s death on Tuesday, both Boric and Lula jetted to Uruguay from Beijing, where they had been meeting Chinese officials.

They were received by Uruguay’s moderate left-wing president, , who was Mujica’s preferred candidate in last fall’s presidential elections.

鈥淟ife goes on, causes remain,鈥� Boric wrote on social media. 鈥淭hank you, dear Pepe, we will carry you with us in every fight.鈥�

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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

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