Ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has surgery for appendicitis

Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner underwent surgery for appendicitis on Saturday, according to the hospital in Buenos Aires where she was admitted.  

Fernández de Kirchner, 72, is currently being held under house arrest at her apartment at Calle San José 1111 in Recoleta, Buenos Aires City, as she serves a six-year sentence for a corruption conviction. 

The former president was transferred with judicial authorisation after complaining of abdominal pain, her media team said.

The Sanatorio Otamendi, located in nearby Balvanera, said she underwent laparoscopic surgery, which confirmed the diagnosis of "appendicitis with localised peritonitis," and that she was recovering "without post-operative complications.”

Appendicitis, the inflammation of the appendix, is known to be painful, but when caught early enough, surgical intervention generally allows for a quick and full recovery.

Several Peronist leaders travelled to the Sanatorio Otamendi to support the ex-president, including Quilmes Mayor Mayra Mendoza and the former human rights secretary Horacio Pietragalla.

A group of the ex-president’s supporters also set up a vigil outside the hospital. 

Fernandez de Kirchner, a dominant and polarising figure in Argentina's politics for more than two decades, served two terms as president from 2007-2015 and returned as vice-president to Alberto Fernández de from 2019-2023.

The veteran Peronist was also first lady from 2003-2007, when her late husband Néstor Kirchner was president.

Fernandez de Kirchner's frontline political career ended in June when the Supreme Court upheld her corruption conviction over the awarding of public works contracts in the southern Patagonia region when she was president.

She was sentenced to six years in prison, which she was allowed to serve under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor, and banned from holding public office for the rest of her life.

Fernández de Kirchner's critics were quick to comment on developments. President Javier Milei reposted a text by one social media user that read: "Cristina admitted to Otamendi. The one who defends the state and was in power for four terms to construct public health, when she has an emergency she goes to a private hospital. Damned phoney."

Former libertarian lawmaker Ramiro Marra, once a close Milei ally, posted on social media: "Cristina, I wish you a speedy recovery, so you can return to prison quickly."

– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL