CROWDS have poured into the streets of Montevideo to bid a poignant farewell to Uruguay’s former president Jose Mujica, a former guerilla who became a pioneering leader and icon of the Latin American left.

Thousands of people joined the procession on Wednesday as the flag-furled coffin of Mr Mujica, affectionately known as “Pepe,” made its way on a gun carriage through the centre of the capital.

The cortege took nearly four hours to reach the parliament building, where banners, wreaths, handwritten notes and portraits littered the lawn and emotions ran high.