In brief: Argentina’s president mending after surgery

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Argentina’s president was awake and recovering Wednesday after a three-and-a-half- hour operation to remove her cancerous thyroid gland.

Cristina Fernandez’s surgery went without complications and all her vital signs were good, her spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro announced, prompting cheers and applause from supporters gathered outside the hospital.

Doctors had expected a routine surgery and predicted a complete cure without chemotherapy, since preoperative tests showed the cancer had not spread beyond a nodule on the right side of her thyroid gland.

Vice President Amado Boudou was put in charge shortly before the operation and will remain as the country’s constitutional leader for 20 more days while Fernandez takes medical leave, the presidency said.

Fernandez, 58, was found to have the cancer shortly after beginning her second four-year term as Argentina’s leader last month, her doctors said.

Ahmadinejad plans Latin America tour

Quito, Ecuador – In the face of increasing tension between Iran and the West, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans a four-nation tour of Latin America beginning Sunday in an apparent effort to show in part that he is not a universal pariah.

The tour, of which the complete itinerary has not been made public, is expected to begin in Venezuela and include visits to Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador.

Tension between Iran and the U.S. and its allies increased after a November report by the U.N. nuclear inspection agency included serious concerns about a possible military dimension to Iran’s nuclear program.

President Barack Obama on Saturday signed a defense bill that includes new penalties against financial institutions that do business with the Islamic republic’s central bank. Iran, meanwhile, has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz oil channel if U.S. and European measures limit its oil exports.