MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uribe avoided condemnation in Bariloche but could not escape H1N1 flu

The Colombian president showed the first symptoms on the return flight.

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has the H1N1 virus, according to official sources. The Presidency's Information and Press Secretary of Colombia, César Mauricio Velásquez, read an official release Sunday saying that Uribe has the virus, while National Health Institute sources from Bogotá confirmed the diagnosis. Social Welfare Minister Diego Palacio said Uribe is responding well to treatment.

Apparently Uribe showed the first symptoms on Friday, returning from the UNASUR meeting, which was held in Bariloche, Argentina.

The virus requires at-home medical treatment, as well as “clinical protocol,” according to official information.

The Colombian Presidency also said that those who attended the UNASUR meeting have been informed “in order for them to take the corresponding action.”

The Colombian President travelled in the same plane with Foreign Affairs Minister Jaime Bermúdez, and Defence Minister Gabriel Silva, as well as Military Forces Commander General Freddy Padilla and several journalists.

Twenty-nine people have died from the H1N1 virus in Colombia, according to sources from the Social Protection Ministry and the National Health Institute (INS

The Unasur extraordinary meeting which brought together the twelve presidents of the region was called to discuss an agreement between Bogotá and Washington allowing the presence of US forces in seven Colombia.

The debate during the seven hour long summit in Bariloche which war aired on live television was “frank and crude”, but a final watered down declaration helped to maintain Unasur much questioned unit.

Uribe is the second Latinamerican president to catch the H1N1 virus flu, the first was Costa Rica’s Oscar Arias. He recovered in a week.