BUENOS AIRES — Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, hospitalized Friday for intestinal bleeding while visiting his native province of Santa Cruz in the far south, is in “satisfactory” condition, his doctor said by telephone over the weekend.
Dr. Luis Buonomo initially told reporters Mr. Kirchner would need seven to 10 days to recuperate, but later revised that, saying the president might return to the national capital today or tomorrow. Mr. Kirchner, 54, was admitted Thursday night to the hospital in Rio Gallegos, the town where he was born about 1,700 miles from Buenos Aires, suffering from stomach pain, low blood pressure and nausea.
Dr. Buonomo said the problem was caused by a painkiller the president took after dental treatment. Mr. Kirchner was diagnosed with erosive gastroduodenitis, a fairly common ailment in which lesions on the stomach walls can cause internal bleeding. The duodenum, into which the stomach opens, is about 10 inches long and the start of the small intestine.
The president had a transfusion Friday to replace blood lost and no further bleeding has occurred, his doctor said.
“In principle, between Tuesday and Wednesday the situation should be resolved … and the president could be back in Buenos Aires,” the president’s physician told reporters in Rio Gallegos. Even while hospitalized, the president maintained the last word on major government matters, Dr. Buonomo said.
People normally need seven to 10 days to recuperate from the ailment, he added, but Mr. Kirchner is anxious to leave the hospital, and the doctor said he can only advise the president as to how to balance his job with his health needs.
Mr. Kirchner was to meet with Bolivian President Carlos Mesa today and tomorrow to discuss, among other matters, the importation of more natural gas from Bolivia to stem Argentina’s worst energy crisis in 15 years. The meeting of the two presidents has been postponed until April 21, a source at the Bolivian Foreign Ministry told Reuters.
The Argentine government faces a crucial set of meetings this week with some of the foreign creditors that hold $88 billion in defaulted government bonds. Argentina experienced the world’s biggest-ever sovereign debt default two years ago, at the height of its economic problems.
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