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.

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.

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