Argentina’s president briefly hospitalized with arrhythmia

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentine President Mauricio Macri was briefly hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat, the presidency said on Friday.

Macri, 57, suffered from a “light arrhythmia” at around 3 p.m. local time, but he carried on working normally at the presidential residence in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the presidential office said in a statement. He was later checked into a hospital at around 7:30 p.m. for precautionary studies. He was released and returned home later in the evening.

Macri took office in December vowing to revive Argentina’s economy and root out corruption. The former Buenos Aires mayor is credited with ending a long-standing legal dispute that recently returned the South American country to international credit markets after nearly 15 years.

But he has come under criticism over his role in two offshore companies that emerged in the “Panama Papers” leak. Macri, who has also been president of one of Argentina’s top soccer clubs and is the son of one of Argentina’s wealthiest persons, says the companies were family businesses and he was a figurehead without compensation.