Hillary Clinton, who was the main obstacle standing in the way of the foreign policy changes wanted by Barack Obama, has not appeared in public since December 7.

Her secretariat announced on the 9th that she had developed a stomach virus. On the 21st, weakened by illness, she apparently fell and hit her head, causing her to suffer a concussion and a brief coma. On December 30, she was admitted to the New York Presbyterian Hospital with a blood clot in her skull in order to undergo anticoagulation treatment.

Her assistant Philippe Reines told the press that the Secretary of State would return to work in early January, after one month’s absence, to take care of current business until her successor’s confirmation by the Senate. He strongly denied the brain tumor allegations published in the National Enquirer.

In Washington, the neoconservatives have voiced doubt over the official account. Ambassador John Bolton accuses Clinton of faking a "diplomatic illness" to avoid having to answer before the Senate for her incompetent handling in the case of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. However, in private, many experts point instead to a paroxysmal hardening of relations between the Secretary of State and the President, which led the Secret Services to put her temporarily out of action.