MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine president cancels agenda because of a low blood pressure episode

Cristina Fernandez had admitted she is a chronic hypo-tense

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez had to cancel all her Wednesday activities because of a lipothymy episode (low blood pressure) and was instructed to rest for the rest of the day at the presidential residence in Olivos.

Cristina Fernandez was scheduled to travel to the north of the country, Jujuy for a historic bicentenary commemoration which was to include the local governor Eduardo Fellner, neighbouring governor from Salta, Juan Manuel Uturbey and Jorge Alperovich from Tucuman, all of them close allies of the president.

She was replaced at the ceremony by Vice-president Amado Boudou and Social Development minister and sister in law Alicia Kirchner.

Between April and October last year the Argentine president suffered similar low blood pressure episodes which forced her to cancel a visit to Cuba, Chile and later to South Korea. Following her first appearance after one of these episodes the president publicly confessed that she is a “chronic hypo-tense”.

“Let me tell you that when you are president, you are the 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day. So that about resting or trying to unplug for me it’s virtually impossible. I can’t, I’m too involved” revealed the Argentine president.

Cristina Fernandez also underwent thyroid surgery in the first week of last January and three weeks later was back at work. The surgery was completed with “no inconveniences or complications”.

Although originally it was thought it could be cancer, thus the full thyroidectomy, the final diagnosis was a ‘false-positive thyroid cancer surgery’, meaning she did not have the feared disease, but would have to be medicated for the rest of her life.