Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro endorsed his son Flavio's 2026 presidential bid on Thursday in a statement from a hospital where he underwent a double hernia surgery that doctors said went smoothly.
The procedure lasted about 3.5 hours and was completed without complications, according to the medical team at the DF Star Hospital. Doctors said in a statement that Bolsonaro "will continue with postoperative care, including pain management, physical therapy and prevention of venous thrombosis."
Bolsonaro, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday, has been serving a 27-year prison sentence since November for an attempted coup.
He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed that he needed the procedure. Police were ordered to stay outside his room where computers and mobile phones were prohibited.
Doctors said Bolsonaro's double hernia caused him pain. The former leader, who was in power between 2019 and 2022, has undergone several other operations since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro's coup trial and sentenced him to prison, authorized the procedure, but denied the former president's request for house arrest after he leaves the hospital.
Bolsonaro has no contact with the few other inmates at the federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia, where he is held and where his 12-square-meter (around 130-square-foot) room has a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a television and a desk, according to authorities.
He has free access to his doctors and lawyers, but other visitors must receive approval from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, de Moraes authorized Bolsonaro's sons to visit him while he's hospitalized. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, is accompanying him.
Before the surgery, his eldest son, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, told reporters that his father had written a letter confirming he had appointed him as his political party's presidential candidate in next year's election.
Flavio announced on Dec. 5 that he will challenge President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, as the candidate of Bolsonaro's Liberal Party.
The senator read the letter to journalists, and his office released the text to the media.
"With the commitment of not allowing the popular will to be silenced, I make the decision to nominate Flavio Bolsonaro as a pre-candidate for the presidency in 2026," the former president said in the handwritten letter, dated Dec. 25.
"He represents the continuation of the path of prosperity that I began well before becoming president, as I believe we must restore the responsibility of leading Brazil with justice, resolve and loyalty to the aspirations of the Brazilian people," Bolsonaro said.
Bolsonaro and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices of attempting to overthrow Brazil's democratic system following his 2022 election defeat.
The plot included plans to kill Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and de Moraes. There was also a plan to encourage an insurrection in early 2023.
Bolsonaro was also convicted on charges that include leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He has denied any wrongdoing.
