Mexican president says he is well after hospital stay for check-up

FILE PHOTO: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a news conference as he mentioned he would meet this week with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico January 17, 2022. Mexico's Presidency/Handout via REUTERS

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Saturday reassured Mexicans that he was in good health following an overnight hospital stay for a cardiac catheterization procedure as part of a regular check-up.

In a video, Lopez Obrador sat behind a desk and in a measured tone said the doctors cleared him to continue his work.

"They found that the arteries were fine, without obstruction," the leftist leader said in the video posted on Twitter. "Now I am back here in the (National) Palace, very calm and very happy."

Lopez Obrador, 68, who had a serious heart attack in 2013 and recently recovered from his second coronavirus infection, also said that he had left a "political will" in case he passed away so the government could continue his political project.

"Governance has to be guaranteed, so I have a will for that," Lopez Obrador said. "Fortunately, I don't think it will be necessary."

Lopez Obrador underwent the procedure as part of a check-up every six months that include lab tests, electrocardiograms, stress tests and CT scans, the government said on Friday.

Cardiac catheterization inserts a thin tube into a large blood vessel leading to the heart and can detect how well the heart is working.

(Reporting by Noe Torres; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)