Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was discharged from the hospital this week after undergoing brain surgery to remove a blood clot. Prior to entering the hospital last week, the president had been actively campaigning for allies running in key midterm elections to be held later this month that will determine whether her party keeps control of Congress. The vote will also be seen as a test of where the parties stand ahead of the 2015 general elections.
The president’s health is still being closely monitored, and she is unlikely to be able to return immediately to campaigning.
Argentina has been led by the Kirchner family for a decade, beginning with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s husband and immediate predecessor in office, Nestor Kirchner. But August legislative primary elections for the Oct. 27 midterms “appeared to signal the beginning of the end of the Kirchner era,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, in an email interview.