File photo taken on Dec. 2, 2014 shows former Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez attending a press conference in Montevideo, Uruguay. Former Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez died on Dec. 6, 2020 at the age of 80 from lung cancer, his family confirmed. (Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua)
MONTEVIDEO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Uruguayan government on Sunday decreed three days of mourning after the death of former President Tabare Vazquez, who died at the age of 80 from lung cancer.
According to a statement, the government of President Luis Lacalle Pou decreed a period of national mourning on Dec. 6, 7, and 8, with a flag at half-staff in all state departments, within the country and abroad.
"Uruguay has lost a prominent scientist and a citizen defender of human rights, a promoter of using dialogue as a pathway, someone who watched out all his life for the health of the people," the official statement said.
Vazquez's closest friends and advisors held a small wake for the former president, followed by a funeral procession which organizers encouraged citizens to follow through the media.
Vazquez will be buried in a private ceremony at La Teja Cemetery in Montevideo, near the area where the former president grew up.
Vazquez, part of the Broad Front party, was the country's first left-wing president and served two terms, from 2005 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2020.
