Brazil’s Bolsonaro hospitalised with abdominal pain, in ‘stable’ condition
Former president has had recurring health problems since September 2018 when an attacker stabbed him at a presidential campaign rally
Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro was airlifted to a hospital after suffering a painful bowel obstruction on Friday that forced him to abandon a political tour – his latest health complication six years after being stabbed in the stomach.
The 70-year-old, who is seeking to make a political comeback even as he faces a criminal trial, started feeling “unbearable abdominal pain” at a political event on Friday in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, a senior member of his Liberal Party said.
He was brought to a hospital where he was “stabilised”, according to right-wing senator Rogerio Marinho, then flown by helicopter to a bigger facility in the state capital, Natal.
Bolsonaro “remains under observation and will spend the night in hospital”, Luiz Roberto Fonseca, medical director of the Rio Grande hospital, told a news conference late on Friday.
Surgeon Helio Barreto added that “for the moment, no surgery is planned”, adding that the ex-president had seen “improvement” with “decreased pain”.