PARAGUAY: President Fernando Lugo is rushed to Brazil for treatment of a life-threatening cancer complication

Record ID: 449865

  • Title: PARAGUAY: President Fernando Lugo is rushed to Brazil for treatment of a life-threatening cancer complication
  • Date: 3rd October 2010
  • Summary: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (OCTOBER 02, 2010) (REUTERS) CLOSE OF HOSPITAL'S LOGO ON TOP OF BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Paraguay
  • Country: Paraguay
  • Topics: Health,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA504VLF4838WR8VAZQVCSJ12JL
  • Story Text: Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, a leftist who is battling cancer, was rushed to Brazil on Saturday (October 02) for treatment of what his doctor said was a life-threatening throat infection.
    Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop who has led the world's number 4 soy exporter for two years, was being evaluated at the hospital in Sao Paulo where he has previously received cancer treatment, hospital officials said.
    Lugo, was hospitalized in Paraguay after feeling unwell on Thursday. His doctor said that the 59-year-old president has an infection of his pharynx, a part of the throat, that was life-threatening.
    "We can see that in the pharynx, right in front of his spine, there's a pooling of liquid, that instead of diminishing as has happened in other areas, this one grew and has characteristics of an infectious process, almost like an abscess, a boil. This is located in a high-risk area because of the possibility that it travel downward toward the thorax and reach an area of the body knows as the mediastinum which is the cavity between the heart and lungs. This is a very delicate area and an infection there is high-risk to the lives of patients," he told reporters.
    Lugo started chemotherapy to treat his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in August.
    A deterioration in his health could force Lugo to cede power temporarily to Vice-President Federico Franco, who has often clashed with the former priest over his leftist policies, but has vowed not to take advantage of his illness.
    Franco, a doctor who formed an alliance with Lugo to run for office, has taken over presidential duties until Lugo returns.
    "The president must be transferred to Brazil at this moment to continue his treatment and diagnosis and surely undergo some procedures over there in Brazil. So we're accompanying him to the airport to sign the act (to transfer power)," he said. "We will then go immediately to the house of (Congress President) Senator Gonzalez Daher to put it on the record, at first for 5 days and eventually, if there's a need to prolong it, for a week."
    If Lugo dies, Franco would take over as president and call elections for a new vice president.
    A power struggle could put at risk a decade of political stability that followed a volatile period after the end of Alfredo Stroessner's dictatorship in 1989.
    Lugo has dismissed his top military chiefs four times since becoming president, the last time in August due to a regular reorganization. Last November, Lugo replaced the heads of the army, navy and air force after denying rumors of a possible coup amid growing opposition criticism of his government. He never commented about that decision.
    The 59-year-old Lugo has said the disease will not impede his work, but he went to a hospital in the capital, Asuncion, on Thursday feeling unwell.
    He said the infection could be treated with surgical drainage in the Brazilian hospital and that the treatment could take a week.
    Lugo, an ally of firebrand Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is accused by critics of failing to deliver on his campaign promises to redistribute wealth.
    His popularity has also taken a hit from a string of paternity scandals. Lugo has admitted to fathering a child when he was still a cleric.
    He has also been under pressure to crack down on armed groups charged with kidnappings and killings in a remote cattle-raising region near the Brazilian border. The rebels have terrified ranchers but have had little impact on overall investment in the land-locked country.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register