Bolivia denies leaked report of presidential tumor

[Bacchus39]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_bolivia_wikileaks_morales


By CARLOS VALDEZ, Associated Press Carlos Valdez, Associated Press – Tue Nov 30, 1:51 pm ET
LA PAZ, Bolivia – Bolivian officials are denying a report in a U.S. diplomatic cable revealed Tuesday that President Evo Morales had a tumor in his nose.

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' spokesman Ivan Canelas denied there had ever been any tumor, saying Morales had surgery last year for a problem with his nasal septum that was causing him constant colds. In a radio interview, he said the leaked cable "had a big dose of speculation."