Emergency Surgery on Argentine President Menem Called Successful

President Carlos Saul Menem, the architect of Argentina’s economic recovery over the past four years, successfully underwent emergency surgery Thursday on a blocked artery that feeds blood to the brain.

Menem, 63, did not hand over power to his younger brother Eduardo, the president of the Argentine Senate, who under constitutional rules would be the next in command.

“The operation has finished. Everything went well,” said Alberto Pierri, the Speaker of the lower house.

The illness forced Menem to cancel a trip to Chile, where he had been scheduled to attend a summit of Latin American leaders.

Menem’s press office at first insisted that the president was merely suffering from a bout of flu. But his doctor said later that Menem was suffering from a blockage in his right carotid artery.

The operation lasted 2 1/2 hours, and doctors said Menem will probably have to spend three to four days recovering in a hospital before he can go home.

Menem has carried out an in-depth transformation of the Argentine economy since taking over in 1989 from his predecessor, Raul Alfonsin, who left office prematurely because he could not rein in the country’s hyper-inflation.