Paraguay leader Fernando Lugo has life-threatening infection

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, who is being treated for cancer, has a life-threatening infection and will travel to Brazil on Saturday for treatment two days after he was hospitalized, the government said.

Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop who has led the poor, soy-exporting nation for two years, started chemotherapy to treat his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in August.                                           

The 59-year-old leftist leader has said the disease will not impede his work, but he went to a hospital in the capital, Asuncion, on Thursday after not feeling well.                                           

Lugo's doctor said the infection was detected in his pharynx, a part of the throat, and could be treated with a surgical drainage in the Brazilian hospital where he gets chemotherapy treatments. 

"In the pharynx right in front of his spine there are liquids that are characteristic of an infectious process ... this is a high-risk area because of the possibility that it could reach the lungs," Dr Eugenio Baez told reporters.                                           

Lugo was scheduled to travel to Sao Paulo on Saturday afternoon. Local media said vice-president Federico Franco will take presidential duties until Lugo returns.