ARGENTINA: Crowds gather outside the hospital react to news from Argentine President's medical team

Record ID: 446789

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Crowds gather outside the hospital react to news from Argentine President's medical team
  • Date: 5th January 2012
  • Summary: PILAR, ARGENTINA (JANUARY 04, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS AT THE DOOR OF THE AUSTRAL HOSPITAL WITH SIGNS AND IMAGES OF NESTOR AND CRISTINA KIRCHNER SIGN SAYING ´BE STRONG, CRISTINA´ SUPPORTER SITTING ON THE STREET, WAITING VARIOUS OF FLAGS SAYING ´BE STRONG, CRISTINA´ PEOPLE SITTING AT THE DOOR OF THE HOSPITAL WAITING FOR THE RESULTS ALFREDO SCOCCHIMARRO, PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ALFREDO SCOCCHIMARRO, PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON, SAYING: "The presidential medical unit communicates that doctors Pedro Saco, head of the surgical team, and Eduardo Schnitzler, medical director of Austral Hospital have said that the surgery on the President of the Nation, Doctor Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has taken place without any problems or complications." PEOPLE APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SCOCCHIMARRO, SAYING: "It is reported that during the operation, which lasted about three hours, she underwent a total thyroidectomy, according to the prearranged plan. In spite of everything, the patient is undergoing a good immediate postoperative recovery." SCOCCHIMARRO LEAVING THE PRESS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF ACTIVISTS CELEBRATING WITH A PHOTOGRAPH OF FERNANDEZ IN THEIR HANDS GENERAL VIEW OF THE CROWD OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL PARTY FLAG WAVING EXTERIOR OF THE HOSPITAL AUSTRAL VARIOUS OF THE SIGNS SAYING: ´BE STRONG, CRISTINA. GOD AND NESTOR ARE LOOKING AFTER YOU´ MAN WITH A SIGN SAYING ´CRISTINA, EVERYONE AT YOUR SIDE
  • Embargoed: 20th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAF0K8FR7EOS656Y6XNBUXZNJCN
  • Story Text: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez's operation for recently diagnosed thyroid cancer was deemed a success by her medical team on Wednesday (January 04).
    Supportive crowds had gathered outside the hospital in Pilar, a suburb of Buenos Aires, since the previous night. They held up signs saying "Strength Cristina", a saying which has become a mantra of support for the leader ever since her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, died suddenly last October.
    Doctors have said the 58-year-old president has a better than 90 percent chance of recovery.
    Presidential spokesperson Alfredo Scocchimarro confirmed the surgery had gone well.
    "The presidential medical unit communicates that doctors Pedro Saco, head of the surgical team, and Eduardo Schnitzler, medical director of Austral Hospital have said that the surgery on the President of the Nation, Doctor Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has taken place without any problems or complications," said Scocchimarro.
    The crowds applauded as the news was announced.
    "It is reported that during the operation, which lasted about three hours, she underwent a total thyroidectomy, according to the prearranged plan. In spite of everything, the patient is undergoing a good immediate postoperative recovery," said Scocchimarro.
    The government last week announced her diagnosis of papillary carcinoma, detected during a routine medical check-up just before Christmas.
    Fernandez won re-election in a landslide last October, helped by brisk economic growth fuelled in part by hefty grain export revenues.
    She has a strong body of support in the country among those who benefit from her generous welfare spending. However, the president often gets bad marks from business leaders who say her interventions in the economy frighten off investment.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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