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Journalism of Courage
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is recovering after undergoing surgery on Sunday, his fifth since being stabbed in the stomach while campaigning in 2018, his wife, Michelle, said in a social media post.
“Surgery concluded with success,” she posted. “My heart overflows with gratefulness for each one of you who have been praying.”
The procedure started at 8:30 a.m. local time (1130 GMT) and was scheduled to last six hours, but went on for about 12 hours because of the complexity of the procedure. The medical team was expected to talk to reporters on Sunday night, the former first lady said.
Bolsonaro, 70, was hospitalized on Friday after feeling strong abdominal pain during an event with supporters in northeastern Brazil, forcing him to break off a regional tour aimed at drumming up political support. He was transferred to the nation’s capital, Brasilia, where he lives, on Saturday night.
https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1911080471489847563
Bolsonaro, a hard-right former army captain who served as president from 2019 to 2022, has been campaigning around Brazil for Congress to pass an amnesty bill for his supporters who stormed the capital after he lost the 2022 election.
In a message to allies before the surgery, the former president criticized the harsh punishment against a supporter who could be sentenced to 10 years in prison, and again called for Congress to pass the amnesty bill.
“May God enlighten each of the 513 representatives and 81 senators in their votes,” he wrote. “If with our decisions we pave our eternity, this vote carries a significant weight.”
Brazil’s Supreme Court decided in March to put Bolsonaro on trial over conspiring to overthrow the government after his 2022 electoral defeat.
He has denied any wrongdoing and called the trial an example of left-wing “lawfare” targeting conservative leaders such as himself and France’s Marine Le Pen.
Bolsonaro has already been banned from running for office until 2030 for discrediting the country’s voting system. If the Supreme Court finds him guilty, he could face a long prison sentence.
Still, the right-wing leader insists that he will run in next year’s presidential election, casting himself as the best candidate to confront leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose popularity has slipped amid high inflation.
