Efe Washington
Washington
Updated Monday, February 12, 2024-07:27
Controversy The US Secretary of Defense has been hospitalized for days but the Pentagon did not inform Biden
The Secretary of Defense of the United States,
Lloyd Austin,
was admitted this Sunday to the intensive care unit of the Walter Reed military hospital to treat a bladder problem, less than a month after his controversial hospitalization.
The Pentagon reported in a statement that the decision was made so that it would receive close monitoring.
At the moment it is not known how long he will have to remain hospitalized.
The Pentagon reported in a statement that Lloyd was transported to the Walter Reed military medical center, outside Washington, at around 2:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. GMT).
About three hours later, the head of the Pentagon transferred his "functions and duties" to Deputy Secretary
Kathleen Hicks,
according to Defense Department spokesman General
Pat Ryder.
On January 15, the person in charge of the Pentagon was discharged from the same hospital after spending two weeks in the hospital, amid controversy because the president of the country,
Joe Biden,
was not immediately informed of his hospitalization.
Lloyd, 70, suffers from
prostate cancer
and underwent a prostatectomy on December 22 to treat his cancer and was subsequently discharged, but on the night of January 1 he returned to the medical center due to an infection. of the urinary tract resulting from the operation and was admitted to the intensive care unit.
His hospitalization generated
enormous controversy
since neither Austin nor his team informed Biden of what happened until January 4, three days after he was admitted, and the Pentagon did not issue a statement to the press until the next day, the 5th. from January.
The opposition has denounced that during those days there was
a power vacuum at the head of the Pentagon
at a critical moment, when the Gaza war threatens a regional escalation in the Middle East.