MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CFK undergoes thyroid surgery; well-wishers camp next to hospital

The Argentine president won’t return until the end of January

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez on Tuesday rested at home on the eve of scheduled surgery for thyroid cancer, less than three months after being re-elected in a landslide.

As CFK relaxed at her residence outside Buenos Aires, dozens of well-wishers set up tents near the Hospital Austral in Pilar, 50 kilometres north of the capital, where the surgery was to be performed.

The activists stand at the sides of the hospital’s door and more than a hundred metres away from the main building. Their presence stands out particularly to the large banners the hanged.

Another remarkable sighting was that of a large truck belonging to Movimiento Evita, led by picket leader Emilio Pérsico, the same one used by the Head of State as stage during the celebrations of her resounding victory in the night of the presidential elections on October 23rd.

Videos of the President will be screened in the truck on Wednesday. Security around the area has been tightened and onlookers and media reporters will have to stand at a considerable distance because the hospital has been enclosed.

Cristina Fernandez, the country's first elected female president, was found to have cancer “on the right lobe of the thyroid gland” during a routine medical examination on December 22, her spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said last week.

The 58-year-old, who is to be hospitalized for three days, plans to remain on leave from her official duties until January 24. Vice President Amado Boudou will assume presidential duties during her absence.

Doctors have said the Argentine leader, who spent the New Year's holiday with her two children, is likely to make a full recovery and soon return to work.

“The prospects are excellent and one would not expect any further growth of the tumour after the operation,” said Mario Bruno, an oncologist and a member of the Argentina Association of Cancer.

Kirchner is one of several Latin American leaders to suffer from cancer in recent years.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo have all waged battles against the disease and say they are now cancer-free.

Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva was diagnosed with throat cancer in late October and has undergone chemotherapy treatments.
Chavez last week speculated that the United States could have developed a “technology to induce cancer” in Latin American leaders, without offering any evidence that such technology existed.