Neves Has 3rd Operation in 11 Days

Amid growing concern for the stability of Brazil’s new democracy, President-elect Tancredo Neves underwent abdominal surgery Tuesday for the third time in 11 days.

Doctors who performed the operation in Sao Paulo said it was successful, but Neves’ press spokesman warned that the convalescence would be lengthy.

The latest surgery, which came after confident medical predictions Monday that Neves would soon be back at work, stunned Brazil.

The 75-year-old professional politician’s first operation for inflamed intestines came hours before he was to be inaugurated March 15 as Brazil’s first civilian president in 21 years.

Although that operation, too, was called a success, it was followed five days later by new surgery to eliminate an intestinal blockage.

With Neves unable to assume office, the presidency is being filled temporarily by Vice President Jose Sarney, a controversial 54-year-old former senator who was Neves’ running mate in indirect elections Jan. 15.

Neves is an enormously popular figure who is seen as a democratic symbol of what Brazilians hopefully call “the new republic.”

Sarney, by contrast, is a former leader of the military government’s political party who switched sides last year to back Neves’ quest for the presidency. He personifies the broad political alliance that supports the government but is still viewed with suspicion by many of Neves’ closest followers.

His choice as vice president was intended to cement the alliance between longstanding opponents of the military regime like Neves and those conservatives who joined the opposition in the final months of the dictatorship.

Brazil’s armed forces stepped voluntarily from power and do not appear to harbor any ambition to return to government, even if Neves’ illness prevents him from assuming office. Still, Neves’ absence is already apparent in the sluggish operation of the government. Policies remain to be spelled out, and several hundred second- and third-level government posts are vacant awaiting presidential action.

The presidential illness is a cruel blow to national expectations raised to great pitch by the prospect of a civilian government headed by Neves.

With the likelihood of a lengthy convalescence for Neves, however, a consensus appeared to be emerging in political circles in Brasilia on Tuesday that Sarney, who has tread cautiously so far, should now begin to exercise more active leadership.