WikiLeaked: Bolivia denies that Morales had tumor

In addition to questioning Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s mental state, the health of Bolivia’s firebrand President Evo Morales also comes up in the WikiLeaks document dump (The WikiLeaks website appears to be down at the moment but I’ll add a link to the original cable once it become available): The U.S. ambassador in Brazil said ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
AIZAR RALDES/AFP/Getty Images
AIZAR RALDES/AFP/Getty Images
AIZAR RALDES/AFP/Getty Images

In addition to questioning Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's mental state, the health of Bolivia's firebrand President Evo Morales also comes up in the WikiLeaks document dump (The WikiLeaks website appears to be down at the moment but I'll add a link to the original cable once it become available):

In addition to questioning Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s mental state, the health of Bolivia’s firebrand President Evo Morales also comes up in the WikiLeaks document dump (The WikiLeaks website appears to be down at the moment but I’ll add a link to the original cable once it become available):

The U.S. ambassador in Brazil said in a January 2009 dispatch that Brazil’s defense minister had confirmed a rumor that the leftist leader was suffering from "a serious sinus tumor" that might explain "why Morales has seemed unfocussed and not his usual self" at recent meetings.

Ambassador Clifford Sobel quoted the Brazilian, Nelson Jobim, as saying that "surgery will be an effort to remove it" and that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "had offered Morales an examination and treatment at a Sao Paulo hospital."

Morales underwent surgery in February 2009, but the official story was that he had a deviated septum as a result of a soccer injury. Morales’ spokesman stuck by that line today, saying the cable "had a big dose of speculation."

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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