Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has been told by doctors to take a month off because of a subdural hematoma on her brain, forcing her to abandon campaigning for important congressional elections set for later this month.
The 60-year-old president suffered head trauma in August, but had been given the all-clear at the time, spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said, without elaborating.
Argentine Vice President Amado Boudou cut short a trip to France to return home and take over the president’s duties.
Photo: Reuters
Fernandez’s campaign for congressional elections on Oct. 27 was in full swing. Recent polls have indicated the government could lose control of the Argentine Congress, an outcome that would deprive Fernandez of the chance to introduce a constitutional reform that would allow her to run for a third term in 2015.
Re-elected to a second term in 2011 on promises of increasing the government’s role in the economy, Fernandez has said she is not thinking about a possible third term. However, talk persists that her supporters want the constitution amended to let her run again.
Fernandez was admitted to a Buenos Aires hospital that specializes in cardiovascular problems for checks earlier on Saturday.
Doctors found a subdural hematoma, an accumulation of blood under a membrane that covers the brain that usually occurs after a blow to the head.
The decision to discharge her suggests the hematoma is too small to be drained via surgery and is low-risk, according to medical sources not involved in the treatment.
Politicians from various parties tweeted their wishes for a speedy recovery.
Fernandez, president of the South American country since 2007, had her thyroid glands removed last year after she was diagnosed with cancer, although later tests indicated no cancer was present.
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