Crowds have poured into the streets of Uruguay’s capital to bid a poignant farewell to former President José Mujica, a guerrilla fighter-turned-pioneering leader who became an icon of the Latin American left,

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

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