Duarte Arrives in U.S. for Treatment of ‘Large Tumor’

WASHINGTON — Salvadoran President Jose Napoleon Duarte entered Walter Reed Army Medical Center here Tuesday night for urgent treatment of what he called “a bleeding ulcer . . . in the stomach, of a malignant nature.”

Duarte, 62, has been rumored to be suffering from cancer, a word he did not use when describing his illness to journalists before leaving San Salvador. Ulcers by themselves are neither malignant nor benign.

A Duarte spokesman confirmed that Duarte has “a large tumor” in his stomach but said its nature must be determined by a biopsy.

The president arrived at Andrews Air Force Base aboard a U.S. Air Force C-141 transport plane and was taken by car to the military hospital, which also treats high-ranking U.S. officials. He made no statement on his arrival.

He was accompanied on the flight by his wife, Ines, and son Alejandro, and met at the airport by El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, Ernesto Rivas Gallont.

At the San Salvador airport, Duarte made his first public statement about the nature of his illness, adding, “God willing, I will overcome it.”

His illness surfaced in the final year of his four-year term.