Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner talks to Vice President Amado Boudou (L) during a ceremony at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires, December 28, 2011. President Fernandez de Kirchner will be operated on for thyroid cancer in January, a government spokesman said on December 27, 2011. The carcinoma has not metastasized, the spokesman said at a news conference. Vice President Boudou will run the country while Fernandez is on a 20-day medical leave. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci (ARGENTINA - Tags: POLITICS HEALTH)