Argentenean President To Have Brain Surgery To Remove Mysterious Hematoma

Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will have surgery on Tuesday to alleviate a brain hematoma, according to a statement released by the Fundación Favaloro hospital where Kirchner has been admitted. While it is an emergency operation, the Argentinean president is out of immediate danger.

Kirchner had initially been put on rest and observation for a month on Saturday because of moderate headaches due to a mild traumatic head injury. It was not specified then what had caused the injury to the president.

However, after Kirchner suffered from tingling in her left arm and the loss of muscular force, her doctors decided to remove the blood clot from her brain through non-invasive surgery, explained by Facundo Manes, director of neuroscience at the Fundación Favaloro hospital.

Argentinean news site Clarín implied that Kirchner’s condition is not the result of an accident, as had been believed, but rather it is due to an old pathology made more serious by Kirchner’s “disregard for her health,” according to journalist Eduardo Van Der Kooy. “Just like the former president [Kirchner’s late husband Néstor Kirchner], who had several warnings before the fatal ending,” Van Der Kooy said. Kirchner passed away in 2010 of a heart attack, after having been operated twice for cardiovascular problems.

Vice President Amado Boudou will assume the role of interim president, the Presidential Palace announced. “We are doing what we know and what we are: the presidential team. [Kirchner] is resting as she needs, but what she asked of me was to keep ruling the country. It is not a new task, and it should not pose a challenge,” said Boudou in the official announcement.