Brazilian Leader in Critical Condition, Has Infection, 5th Operation

Brazilian President-elect Tancredo Neves was in critical condition Thursday after undergoing his fifth abdominal operation in 21 days as doctors tried to eliminate areas of infection from bacteria that have resisted antibiotics.

A medical bulletin issued four hours after his latest operation at the heart institute of the Sao Paulo Clinical Hospital said Neves was breathing with the help of an artificial respirator and was being treated with drugs for cardiac irregularities.

Ulises Guimaraes, president of the Chamber of Deputies, said he was informed by Dr. Henrique Walter Pinotti, chief of the medical team attending Neves, that the situation is now “very serious.” A hospital spokesman described Neves’ condition as critical but stable.

Fighting for Life

Neves, 75, is fighting for his life against infection in his abdomen and lungs caused by bacteria that have spread in his weakened body since he underwent emergency surgery March 15. The surgery kept him from taking office as president that day.

Thousands of people gathered in a vigil outside the hospital compound where Neves is in intensive care. People could be seen weeping in the streets of this city, where television sets were set up in public places to follow the reports from Sao Paulo.

Special prayers for Neves were offered in churches preparing for Easter weekend services. Fears spread in this Roman Catholic nation of 130 million people that he might not live to fulfill hopes placed in him as a symbol of returning democracy after two decades of military rule.

Thursday’s surgery came only two days after another operation, described as minor, to repair a hernia in the abdominal wall that had pinched Neves’ intestine. He was initially operated on for diverticulitis, an intestinal inflammation.

Television Appeals

Political leaders close to the ailing president-elect--men such as Andre Franco Montoro, governor of Sao Paulo state, and Sen. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the government’s leader in Congress--went on television after the fifth operation to urge the public to have faith in Neves’ recovery. They also stressed the constitutional legitimacy of the present regime and the need for democratic stability.

The political situation is so delicate that Labor Minister Almir Pazzianotto has managed to persuade union leaders to call off strikes in the automotive industry, in public transportation in the capital city of Brasilia and at the port of Santos lest the walkouts lead to destabilization of the new government.

Since inauguration day March 15, the presidency has been occupied by Vice President Jose Sarney.

Inflation, Debt Problems

The new administration, coming after 21 years of military rule in Brazil, has been seriously hampered in confronting major problems, such as virulent inflation and negotiations on a $100-billion foreign debt, by the absence of Neves. He was the architect of the opposition front that won election in January against a government-backed candidate for president.

News of Neves’ illness is being intensely followed throughout Brazil, with television stations interrupting regular broadcasts with frequent bulletins from the hospital in Sao Paulo or from the Congress in Brasilia, where political leaders weigh an uncertain future while Neves remains incapacitated.

After his first operation, the political system adjusted well, with congressional leaders installing Sarney as vice president, a post to which he was elected as Neves’ running mate. This action made possible the constitutional change of government from the former regime, headed by President Joao Baptista Figueiredo, a retired army general.

But Sarney, a former governor of Maranhao state and more recently a senator, was seen as a caretaker who would keep the presidential seat warm until Neves was released from the hospital and able to take office.

The present Cabinet was carefully chosen by Neves before inauguration day, and it represents a delicate political balance that requires Neves’ personal leadership.

Pressures for Vote

But now the governing coalition--an alliance between the center-left Brazilian Democratic Movement Party of Neves, which has a congressional majority, and the Liberal Alliance Party--must consider the unforeseen possibility that Sarney, 54, will be president for a long time.

Constitutionally, Neves was elected, with Sarney, for a six-year term, but political negotiations during the formation of the alliance included a commitment that the term would be reduced to four years. If Neves is incapacitated, strong pressures will grow, both within the alliance and from opposition parties, for calling a new presidential election, this time by direct popular vote, in 1986.