Dr. Jose Francisco Peña Gomez underwent successful surgery to remove cancerous tumors from his abdomen on 24 September at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. A short time after the operation, the hospital released a bulletin announcing that it had been a success. The chief surgeon, Dr. Murray Brennan, performed the operation and afterwards told a group of friends and political associates of Dr. Peña Gomez that all had gone smoothly.
The 27 September edition of the Listin Diario newspaper reported that the three-time presidential candidate of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) would be released from the hospital before the end of the month, after which time he will be an outpatient for at least one more week.
This is the second time in less than two years that Dr. Peña Gomez has been operated on for cancer. He had a malignant tumor removed from his abdomen on 5 October, 1994, together with his spleen. The strenuous campaign that he carried out in 1996, ending in his losing to Leonel Fernandez in the 30 June run-off, surprised many because of the cancer he had suffered less than two years earlier. When the more malignant tumors surfaced afterwards, Dr. Peña Gomez blamed, in part, the “dirty campaign” against him in 1995-96.
The president of the PRD is expected to spend several weeks recovering abroad, and his political future is unclear, although most prominent members of the party have pledged their support for him if he decides to seek a fourth candidacy for the presidency in the year 2000.
In related news, Dr. Peña Gomez’s vice presidential candidate Fernando Alvarez Bogeart, has for the last two campaigns denied rumors that he is poor health. Since the 30 June run-off, Mr. Alvarez Bogeart has made very few public appearances, sparking rumors that he was suffering from cancer himself. He vehemently denied such reports, saying that he has not been sick since 1971, when he suffered from hepatitis. Mr. Alvarez Bogeart told the newspaper Hoy that he has not made any public appearances because of “personal matters”, including the weddings of two of his daughters.