Brazil’s president is “stable” with intestinal obstruction, but doctors weigh whether he will have to undergo surgery
Jair Bolsonaro begins what will be the last year of his mandate on the wrong foot. Six months after entering a hospital in Sao Paulo for an intestinal obstruction, the president of Brazil was admitted again this Monday for the same problem, which has its origin in the stabbing he received in the 2018 electoral campaign. age 66, is being treated for a “picture of intestinal subocclusion” at the Vila Nova Star medical center, according to a brief statement from the health facilities. At the moment he is “stable, undergoing treatment,” said Dr. Antônio Luiz de Vasconcellos Macedo, chief surgeon in charge of the president’s health, although he did not specify any forecast on when he may be discharged.
The president said through his Twitter account that he began to feel unwell on Sunday, for which he was urgently transferred from the Santa Catarina region, where he was enjoying a questionable vacation after criticism received by the opposition and part of the opinion public due to not having interrupted them despite the serious floods that have plunged the State of Bahia into a crisis, and that have left some thirty people dead and hundreds of thousands affected.
Around 3:00 a.m. – local time – he arrived at the hospital, where a nasogastric tube has been placed and he will undergo further tests before deciding if he needs a new surgery for an internal obstruction in the abdominal region, an intervention for which he has already remained. five days admitted last July.
On Twitter, Bolsonaro posted a photograph of himself prostrate in bed, with a resigned face, making the OK sign with his right hand and with a probe through his nose. “I will have more tests for a possible surgery for internal obstruction in the abdominal region,” wrote the far-right, who recalled that these problems stem from the attack he suffered on September 6, 2018 when he was stabbed in the abdomen while a group of supporters him carried on their shoulders during the electoral campaign for the elections of October of that year. The aggressor was arrested immediately after the attack, but was declared unimpeachable since the judge considered that he was not able to answer for his actions due to his mental problems. The stabbing forced up to four surgeries.
More obstacles
For the moment, the entry into the new year has not brought Bolsonaro much luck. During his vacations he confessed not having to return to work due to the situation in Bahia, the positive case of a member of his entourage and a small accident on a jet ski from which he escaped unharmed. In addition, his continuity in power after serving three years in office is threatened by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is emerging as the favorite for the October elections.
Although the Brazilian president intends to stay in government, opinion polls reflect the opposite of what he wants. The latest polls show that the ultra-rightist would have between 20 and 25% of the vote, compared to the almost 50% that they attribute to the progressive Lula, his greatest antagonist. A fall that, according to analysts, is given by its firm denial towards the pandemic, which already leaves almost 620,000 deaths in the country.
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