Mexico City, Mexico - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will be operated on this week to have a benign thyroid nodule removed - just months after the 47-year-old was sworn into office.

"On Wednesday July 31st, President Enrique Pena Nieto will undergo surgery to have a thyroid nodule removed " the statement said, without offering more details on the president's condition.

A presidential spokesperson later emphasized that the nodule was benign "as determined by a biopsy" in Mexico City recently.

A nodule is a small lump which was found on the thyroid gland which is located at the base of the neck just above the breastbone and regulates hormones and metabolism.

The vast majority of nodules cause no symptoms, but a small percentage are cancerous. A nodules can grow large enough to cause pressure and make it difficult to swallow.

The operation at Central Military Hospital should last about 90 minutes, and Pena Nieto will then take four days to recover. The president will have a four-day recovery period at Los Pinos, the Mexican White House, and only hold private meetings during this time, according to his spokesperson.

The announcement comes as a surprise as earlier this month the youthful, photogenic president finished a 6 mile race in Mexico City in 54:08 minutes.

He took office in December, returning the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, to power after 12 years on the sidelines.