Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro hospitalized in America, his wife confirms

Brasilia:

Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro has been hospitalized with stomach pains, his wife said Monday, a day after his supporters stormed the seat of power in Brasilia while he was being treated at a Florida hospital. having had.

Brazil’s O Globo newspaper said Bolsonaro, 67, was admitted to the AdventHealth Celebration Acute Care Hospital outside Orlando, Florida, where the former president had visited two days before his term ends on December 31.

Michel Bolsonaro wrote on Instagram, “Bolsonaro remains under observation in hospital due to abdominal discomfort stemming from a stabbing attack in 2018”.

The Orlando hospital did not immediately respond to inquiries from AFP.

The former leader rejected the traditional transfer of the presidential sash when veteran leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated him in the election, took office on January 1.

He is staying at the Orlando home of former Brazilian mixed martial arts champion Jose Aldo, just a short walk from Disney World.

The news of his hospitalization came a day after right-wing protesters attacked the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court in the Brazilian capital, reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 attacks on the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Demolished buildings. Trump, a Bolsonaro ally.

Bolsonaro took to Twitter on Sunday night to condemn the “shootings” in Brasilia, but rejected Lula’s claim that he instigated the attacks while defending the right to “peaceful protest”.

Bolsonaro has had a series of health problems stemming from the knife attack that nearly claimed his life during the 2018 campaign that brought him to the presidency.

She has had six surgeries since the stabbing, which was carried out by an assailant who was found mentally unfit to stand trial.

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