Argentine President to have surgery after head injury

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was today due to undergo surgery to treat bleeding on the brain caused by a head injury.

Doctors told her to rest for a month after diagnosing chronic subdural hematoma, or fluid trapped between the skull and brain, on Saturday.

But they decided surgery was needed after the 60-year-old complained of numbness and weakness in her arm.

Today doctors at the Fundacion Favaloro, one of Argentina’s top hospitals, prepared to drill into her skull, to siphon out blood that is pressuring her brain two months after she suffered the unexplained injury.

It means Ms Fernandez de Kirchner will be off the campaign trail just three weeks before elections that could loosen her party’s hold on Congress.

The President’s opponents criticised secrecy about her health after no details were given of how she came to injure her head.

They also said a lack of information about who would be in charge in her absence was cause for concern. There was no official announcement about a transfer of power but Vice President Amado Boudou said in a speech that top officials would run the country as a team “while she gets the rest she deserves”.

“There needs to be more information to lower the people’s anxiety,” said Fabian Perechodnik, who directs the Poliarquia political consulting firm.