SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) --Former Dominican President
Juan Bosch was being kept alive with a respirator and remained under heavy sedation
at a medical clinic, his doctors said.

Dr. Yony Aquino, one of the doctors treating Bosch, 92, said Tuesday his condition
was extremely critical, and the chances of a recovery were "minimal."

"He is being kept heavily sedated, which means he is in a very deep sleep," Aquino
told reporters.

On Sunday, Dr. Abel Gonzalez was understood to have said Bosch was in a coma,
but he said Tuesday that was not the case. The comment, made during a tumultuous
press conference, was widely reported, and Gonzalez denied making it Tuesday.

"He has never been in a coma," said Gonzalez, who runs the clinic.

Bosch was taken to the Abel Gonzalez Advanced Medical Center on Friday after
suffering from intestinal bleeding, neurological complications and respiratory
problems. Hospitalized five times in three months, the former president had a lung
operation on Aug. 29.

The first democratically elected leader of the Dominican Republic, Bosch was
elected president in December 1962 after the assassination of dictator Rafael Trujillo.
He was ousted in 1963 by soldiers who accused him of being a communist.

Bosch never regained power, but helped found two of the country's three main
political parties. He also wrote more than 40 books.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press