Argentine president has cancer

Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will undergo surgery next week, two months after being reelected in a landslide vote, her spokesman said.
Kirchner, 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, said spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro.
"The illness has been contained," Scoccimarro emphasized in a statement, adding the cancer had not metastasized. Tests carried out Tuesday showed the cancer had also not spread to Kirchner's lymph nodes, he added.
The 58-year-old Kirchner was expected to spend 72 hours in hospital and then three weeks recovering from the surgery, he said. During that time, her vice president Amado Boudou will carry out her duties.
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 Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was diagnosed with throat cancer in late October and has undergone chemotherapy treatments.