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Jose Mujica

Tiny Uruguay plays big role in Syria refugee crisis

Alan Gomez
USA TODAY
Jose Mujica, President of Uruguay discusses the social changes in his country at his residence outside of Montevideo, Uruguay.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — President Jose Mujica says his country, much like the United States, is a nation of immigrants and refugees.

That's why the first wave of Syrian refugees arrived here Thursday to help ease the load that Syria's neighbors have borne as more than 2 million people have fled the civil war engulfing that country.

It explains why Uruguay will become the first South American country to accept and attempt to integrate into society detainees who have been held at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

And it's why Mujica doesn't understand why so many in the USA are trying so hard to send back the tens of thousands of Central American children who have fled violence raging in their home countries.

"We wanted to earn the right to tell the rest of the world that there are other solutions, that we can take care of these children in other countries," Mujica said this week, pointing out that most of the Syrian refugees coming to his country are children. "Now we can say to Brazil, 'And what are you doing?' And to Mexico, 'What are you doing?' And to the U.S. and France, 'What are you doing?' "

Kurdish refugees wait by the side of the road near Suruc, Turkey, after their arrival from Kobani, as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group.

Mujica spoke to USA TODAY about the role his tiny country of 3 million people can play to help refugees around the world while sitting outside his simple countryside home on the outskirts of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

Manuela, his three-legged dog, sat by his side as the president — known for donating most of his modest salary to charity — talked about how excited he is to welcome the Syrian refugees.

"The excuses that 'We're poor' and 'We're not developed' — all of that is relative. You can always do something for people who are worse off," he said. "You hear the argument, 'But we have poor people, we have to help our poor people.' But our poor people aren't facing war, too."

Five Syrian families, a total of 42 people, are part of the first wave. They will stay at a Catholic retreat center. From government welfare assistance to Spanish lessons and eventually Uruguayan citizenship, the refugees will be given several months to acclimate to the country. The government plans to bring an additional 78 refugees early next year.

Mujica gets even more fired up when he talks about the Guantanamo detainees he agreed to take in.

Mujica said the U.S. should be doing more to close the book on what has been an especially dark period in the country's history. "That's not a prison, it's a cage full of people who've been kidnapped," he said, referring to Guantanamo. "It's an embarrassment."

The six detainees are part of a larger group of Guantanamo prisoners who have not been charged with a crime and are no longer considered a threat by the U.S., but can't be returned to their home countries because of ongoing wars, fear of torture or other security concerns.

The move has received a lot of public opposition, with 58% of people against it and only 18% supporting it, according to a poll released Oct. 1 by Cifra, a Uruguayan consulting firm.

That in turn has thrust the issue into an ongoing presidential campaign. Uruguay is holding an election on Oct. 26. Mujica is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term, and he has delayed the detainees' transfer until after the vote because he doesn't want his decision to influence the election any more than it already has.

Mujica also lamented the harsh reaction that children from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador sometimes face as they illegally cross into U.S. territory. Mujica said Americans, despite their immigrant backgrounds and wealth, should not be calling for the swift deportation of young children who legitimately fear for their lives back home.

"That egoism of the middle class, that immigrants are going to take their jobs and lower their salaries, you see it everywhere," Mujica said. "(They) are worried that the problems of the world are going to get inside."

Instead, Mujica said Americans should welcome those who are most desperate while doing more to improve the living conditions in their home countries. That, he said, is the only way to finally end the never-ending waves of refugees running away from problems around the world.

Mujica spoke about how the U.S. created the Marshall Plan at the end of World War II.

"You don't think the industrialized world has the power to advance … the economies of millions of other people? Human beings have amazing capabilities," he said.

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