Neves Undergoes Seventh Operation in Four Weeks

President-elect Tancredo Neves of Brazil underwent surgery Thursday for the seventh time in four weeks, a presidential spokesman said.

The operation was needed to remove a new infection that had developed in the 75-year-old politician’s abdomen, said the spokesman, Antonio Brito.

“The doctors had no alternative but to undertake a new operation,” Brito said.

“This operation is to explore and clean the abdominal cavity, because in the last few hours all the tests showed an aggravation of the infection process,” he said.

Brito said Neves’ condition worsened Thursday and by nightfall had entered a critical phase, with bacterial infection growing rapidly.

This affected Neves’ heart and breathing rate, elevating his blood pressure and temperature, he said.

After a series of new tests Thursday night, the medical team decided that an operation was the only possible solution, he said.

Neves entered the operating room at the Sao Paulo Heart Institute at 11:30 p.m. in what presidential sources described as very grave condition. The operation was conducted under general anesthetic.

Neves suffered two crises caused by bacterial infection, one early in the evening and the other 90 minutes before the operation, the sources said.

The infection had spread into the blood, they said, and the white cell count had increased rapidly.

The operation was the second Neves has undergone to remove infection since he fell ill on the eve of his inauguration March 15, making it necessary for Vice President Jose Sarney to be sworn in as acting president.

Since the first operation to remove a section of inflamed intestine, he has also had surgery to clear an intestinal blockage, stem internal bleeding, treat a hernia and insert a breathing tube in his trachea.

Neves’ election spelled the end of 21 years of military rule in Brazil, and politicians are clearly worried at the prospect that he may not recover.

“It will be difficult to introduce a new political process when the principal actor, who also wrote the script, is not present,” said the government leader in Parliament, Sen. Henriue Cardoso.