Fernández to have surgery to remove tumour Cristina Fernández, Argentina's president, is expected to undergo surgery on Wednesday to remove a thyroid tumour that has overshadowed the start to what promises to be a tough second term in office. Ms Fernández, who turns 59 next month, returned to Buenos Aires after a New Year's break at her family home in Patagonia for final meetings with ministers ahead of medical leave that is due to last until January 24. IN Americas Politics & Policy Though Ms Fernández's only public appearance since the announcement of her cancer had as a backdrop a giant image of Evita Perón, the iconic former first lady who died of cancer aged 33, the president's prognosis is good. Her papillary thyroid carcinoma - detected during a routine medical exam last month - has not metastasised or spread to her lymph nodes, according to the government, and she is not expected to need chemotherapy. The administration has freely shared details about the cancer, which has a high survival rate. After her discharge from the Hospital Austral, a private clinic just north of Buenos Aires, the president is expected to return to the southern province of Santa Cruz to recuperate. Amado Boudou, the former economy minister who became vice-president last month when Ms Fernández was inaugurated for a second term, will take temporary charge. Mr Boudou is expected to keep a low profile amid what is usually a quiet summer holiday period. Nevertheless, the popular Ms Fernández joked to him last week: "Watch what you do - I mean it." Supporters have plastered the hospital gates with get-well wishes and some have even set up tents to camp out until she is discharged. Church leaders, football ace Lionel Messi and even David Cameron, the British prime minister she is fond of berating for refusing talks on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, are among those who have sent messages of support to the president. Ms Fernández is the latest leftist Latin American leader after Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and Brazil's current and past presidents, Dilma Rousseff and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to be diagnosed with cancer. The president's health, plus the sweltering summer heat, have temporarily banished thoughts of the economic challenges in store in 2012, when growth in Argentina's food commodity-based economy is expected to slow sharply to around 4 per cent amid slowdowns in top trade partners Brazil and China. The government has begun eliminating hefty subsidies to residential gas and electricity bills. There could be extra pressure as the government embarks on collective wage negotiations, which traditionally start with tense talks and strike threats over teachers" pay. "Definitely the main challenge in the short term is the phasing out of subsidies because it is going to affect the Argentines" most sensitive organ - their wallet, as Perón used to say," said Boris Segura, economist at Nomura in New York.