Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has cancer

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REPORTING FROM MEXICO CITY -- President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina has become the latest Latin American leader to face cancer, officials announced Tuesday.

Fernandez has thyroid cancer and will be undergo surgery Jan. 4, government spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said (link in Spanish). It was detected last week and convalescence is expected to last three weeks. The spokesman said the cancer has not metastasized nor spread to her lymph nodes.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff and Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo have all been diagnosed with cancer, as have former leaders Alberto Fujimori of Peru and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil. Chavez’s case is the most serious, with questions looming over his bid for reelection next year.

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-- Tracy Wilkinson