”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
I’m in perfect health,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Saturday, following medical tests and a blood pressure scare that forced him to cancel a trip to Davos, Switzerland.
“I’m going to improve the quality of my diet,” the 64-year-old leader told reporters outside a Sao Paulo cardiac clinic that carried out the tests.
But, he insisted, “I’m going to keep traveling” as planned throughout the rest of the year — his last months in power before handing over the reins to a successor to be chosen in October elections.
Lula’s aides described the tests as an overdue routine check-up.
Early Thursday, Lula was taken off his jet readying to leave the northern city of Recife for the World Economic Forum in Davos and rushed to hospital, where he was put under observation for several hours.
Doctors said he had experienced sudden high blood pressure, likely the results of a flu and an intense work schedule.
Lula rested in his private residence outside Sao Paulo until the new tests, which were carried out under the supervision of his personal doctor.
Immediately after leaving the clinic, Lula returned to Brasilia to spend the rest of the weekend in his official residence. He was to resume his work schedule on Monday.
