Former Argentina president Fernando de la Rua was in
intensive care on Thursday after suffering a heart attack, medical
sources said.
The 81-year-old, president from
1999-2001, was surrounded by his wife and two sons, according to press
reports, with the official Telam news agency citing a medical source
saying: “He’s in a delicate state.”
De la Rua has suffered several health problems
in recent years, undergoing an operation to open a clogged heart artery
in 2014 while he had cardiac problems requiring surgery in both 2017
and 2018.
He was also hospitalized for a heart problem in 2001 during his presidency.
He has remained away from the political sphere
ever since fleeing the presidential palace on December 20, 2001 by
helicopter as riots raged in major cities, including Buenos Aires and
Rosario, with the country lurching through an institutional and economic
crisis.