President Danilo Medina’s spokesman Roberto Rodriguez Marchena says that the President’s health is fine. He told reporters that the President, who has been suffering from dermatitis, traveled to Florida for a skin biopsy. He said the equipment used was not portable.
Rodriguez was responding to press complaints that information on where the President was being treated and his agenda during his Sunday 1 to Monday 2 March 2015 trip was not released to the media. Rodriguez said the reason for the lack of information was that the President does not want his personal life to be the focus of public attention. The media has argued that the President’s health is of national interest.
There is general speculation that Medina may have dealt with other matters in Florida given that he took a private jet to attend the reported appointment with an unnamed doctor and hospital and returned the next day. The speculation led to Rodriguez Marchena’s statement, but Rodriguez did not provide further details.