BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has cancelled a trip to the Vatican next month after fracturing her ankle, officials said Monday.
Kirchner, 61, who has suffered a series of health setbacks in recent months, was to visit Pope Francis in January with her Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet to mark 30 years since a Vatican-brokered peace treaty to resolve the Beagle Channel dispute.
The neighbouring countries nearly went to war over the islands of the Beagle Channel in 1978, and the late pope John Paul II mediated the dispute between Argentina and Chile.
The visit, along with other planned official events, will be rescheduled for after January 12, her chief of staff Jorge Capitanich said.
Kirchner was hospitalized Friday after fracturing her left ankle in an accident at home, the latest in a series of physical ailments that have caused her to cancel public events.
Kirchner had a nearly month-long absence starting October 30 when she was hospitalized for a gastrointestinal inflammation that forced her to miss a G20 meeting in Australia.
AFP
