Colombian authorities confirmed that Defense Minister Gabriel Silva
Lujan is showing symptoms of AH1N1 or swine flu. President Alvaro Uribe
is confirmed to have contracted the virus.
Both Uribe and Silva Lujan traveled to Argentina last week where they attended a special UNASUR summit on Colombia’s plan to allow U.S. military to its military bases for counternarcotics and counterinsurgency operations.
According to Colombian health authorities, Uribe contracted the virus during this trip and was already suffering from it while attending the summit Friday.
The Defense Minister is being treated after he too started showing symptoms of the illness that has killed more than 30 people in Colombia already.