Rousseff cancels trip as health precaution

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who has been suffering from pneumonia, has cancelled a trip to Paraguay this weekend on her doctor's recommendation, her spokesman said.

The move was a "recommended medical precaution," said spokesman Ricardo Baena, adding that Rousseff has "almost recovered" from the pneumonia, diagnosed two weeks ago.

Rousseff, who survived cancer in 2009, cancelled several events earlier this month as a result of what her spokesman called a mild case pneumonia. This week, she showed minor difficulty speaking to a congregation of mayors.

Her doctor recommended she avoid the six-hour flight to Paraguay, Baena said, where she had planned to make her first visit as president.

In April 2009, Rousseff underwent surgery and chemotherapy to treat lymphoma and her doctors later said she had been cured. She went on to win the election in October 2010 to become Brazil's first woman president.