Former President Jair Bolsonaro underwent surgery Sunday morning, marking his fifth operation since surviving a 2018 stabbing during his presidential campaign, his medical team confirmed.
The procedure began at 8:30 a.m. and is expected to take six hours. Bolsonaro, 70, was hospitalized Friday after experiencing severe abdominal pain during a rally with supporters in northeastern Brazil, cutting short a regional tour aimed at rallying political momentum.
He was transferred to Brasilia, where he resides, on Saturday night.
The hard-right former army captain, who led Brazil from 2019 to 2022, has been touring the country in recent weeks, pushing for congressional approval of an amnesty bill for supporters who stormed government buildings after his 2022 election loss.
In a message to allies before the surgery, the former president criticized the harsh punishment of a supporter who had been 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 last month to put Bolsonaro on trial for allegedly 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 like 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 Inácio Lula da Silva, whose popularity has slipped amid high inflation.
