SantiagoFormer Uruguayan President José Mujica, diagnosed with esophageal cancer last April, was admitted to a Montevideo hospital on Thursday for the third time in less than two weeks.
Dr. Raquel Pannone, the former president’s personal physician, told AP that Mujica was hospitalized at Casmu in the Uruguayan capital due to digestive problems that led to dehydration, so he will undergo a series of tests throughout the day.
“We are doing tests and improving as much as possible,” said the doctor.
Although the condition is not serious, Pannone did not report any possible discharge from hospital.
Last week, Mujica, 89, had already been admitted to a health centre for the same problem, after having difficulty eating as a result of the radiotherapy treatment he underwent for the malignant tumour he was diagnosed with a few months ago.
On that occasion, Pannone explained in a press conference that “the consequences of radiotherapy made it more difficult for him to eat and drink liquids”, since he suffers from a kidney disease. Just a few days later, the leader of the Uruguayan left was hospitalized again, after choking during a meal, but was discharged the same day.
At the end of April, Mujica announced his own diagnosis, which he described as “obviously very compromising and doubly complex” because he also suffers from an immunological disease.
A week after going public with her illness, she began daily radiotherapy sessions, which, according to her doctor, had quite successful results. “The radiotherapy was very good and we have strong convictions that the cancer was cured,” Pannone said at a press conference on August 27.
The doctor added that tests carried out later showed no evidence of the tumor, although they did point to the presence of fibrosis in the esophagus, which is causing discomfort to Mujica.
“Radiotherapy is like a burn and we have to get the tissue to recover. At 90 years old, everything is slower, including tissue recovery. This makes it bothersome for him when he eats and that is why he eats less,” she explained.
Mujica was president of Uruguay between 2010 and 2015 and his government was notable for its broad social agenda. The leader from Campeche retired from the Senate and from politics in 2020, although he never stopped advocating for the causes he defends and remained active in the ranks of the leftist Frente Amplio.
His last public appearance was on August 27 at a political rally at his party headquarters, hours after he left the hospital.
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– 2024-09-09 23:26:20
