Argentine president fractures her ankle

AFP

Buenos Aires

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has been hospitalised after fracturing her left ankle, an official said, the latest in a series of physical ailments that have caused her to cancel public events.

After an accident at home caused the fracture, the 61-year-old leader was treated on Friday at a hospital in the capital before returning to rest at her home in the southern Santa Cruz province.

Kirchner had a nearly month-long absence starting October 30 after she was hospitalised for a gastrointestinal inflammation that forced her to miss a G20 meeting in Australia.

That was the third time in less than a year that Kirchner, who is in her last year in office, was sidelined by health issues.

She had to take a break for several days in October due to pharyngitis, an inflammation at the back of the throat.

In July, Kirchner was sidelined for several days by laryngitis, forcing her to cancel a trip to Paraguay.

A little over a year ago, she underwent surgery for an intracranial hematoma, or bleeding in the brain, which forced her to stop working for six weeks.

In early 2012, she underwent surgery to remove her thyroid after being misdiagnosed with cancer.

The center-left Kirchner was first elected Argentina’s first female president in 2007, and won a second term in 2011. She succeeded her husband Nestor Kirchner who died while in office.