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,

Mourners wept, raised their arms and marched behind the flag-draped casket of former President José Mujica on Wednesday as thousands bid a poignant farewell to the iconic leader in the Uruguayan capital.

Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hailed Uruguay's former president Jose "Pepe" Mujica as "a superior human being" Thursday as politicians joined citizens at a memorial for the famously humble ex-leader.