Santos has cancer

Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos announced today he will undergo surgery on Wednesday to remove a cancerous tumor in his prostate.

Santos´ cancer is not aggressive and according to doctors he has a 98% chance of a complete recovery.

The president has agreed to publish the details of his illness and to provide the nation with continuous updates on the progress of the treatment.

This is in stark contrast to some other cancer suffering leaders in the region who have chosen either to disclose little or less information (while in power) or in the case of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, keep the nation in the dark.

Wednesday´s operation is not expected to affect progress of the peace talks scheduled in the coming days, and Santos hopes to be away from his desk for days rather than weeks.

Last year Chávez was widely ridiculed for his claim that the US government was behind a cancer epidemic in Latin American leaders. Chávez half joked that the CIA had invented a chemical to poison left-wing leaders in the continent.

While the conspiracy theories are pure fiction it is true that Santos joins a curiously long list of current and recent heads of states who have suffered or are suffering from the disease.

Over the last three years we have seen the following:

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – thyroid cancer (although later tests suggested a false alarm).

Former Brazil President Lula de Silva – throat cancer

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff – lymph cancer

Former Paraguay President, Fernando Lugo – lymphoma

And of course Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, details of whose cancer have been kept from the public, but who is expect to have had a tumor removed from his pelvis.

All of these leaders are left wingers, with the exception of President Santos.

Santos announcement comes at a time when his support is climbing again in the polls and just a few days away from the start of the peace talks with the FARC. Approval of his government now lies at 64%, even following the relentless attacks from Alvaro Uribe, who, for a brief moment today suspended hostilities to wish his former Defence Minister well.

This website hopes for Santos´ speedy recovery.