Fernandez to recover from health woes, but her party is struggling

Doctors say Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is likely to make a full recovery from a surgery she had Tuesday to remove blood from the surface of her brain. But the operation sidelined her three weeks ahead of a key mid-term election and at the apex of a rancorous court battle with a number of "holdout" creditors who are suing Argentina for full repayment of debts.

The president's condition, described as a subdural hematoma, stems from Fernandez hitting her head in a fall in August. On Saturday she was told to rest for a month. The surgery was announced Monday after the 60-year-old leader complained of tingling in her left arm.

Supporters, some carrying signs that said "Hang In There Cristina" and "The Country Is With You," gathered outside the Fundacion Favaloro hospital, where the surgery was being conducted.

The operation comes at a sensitive time for her administration, with Argentines griping about double-digit inflation and government-imposed currency controls that have clamped down on access to U.S. dollars as part of an effort to halt capital flight.

The president's policies promote economic growth at the cost of inflation clocked by private economists at about 25 percent per year, one of the highest rates in the world.

When she became ill Saturday, Fernandez was in campaign mode, making speeches on behalf of political allies running in the Oct. 27 mid-term primary, an election that will determine whether her coalition remains in control of Congress in her final two years as leader of the country.

Fernandez, who was re-elected in 2011 on promises of increasing the role of government in the economy, is also embroiled in a legal battle against holdout bond investors who declined to participate in Argentina's 2005 and 2010 debt restructurings and are suing for full repayment.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a preliminary appeal filed by Argentina in the case, which could go on for another year after more than a decade of bouncing around the U.S. federal courts.

Al Jazeera and Reuters