Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro undergoes double hernia surgery

SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro underwent double hernia surgery on Thursday at a hospital in the national capital, Brasilia, his doctors said.

The procedure lasted about 3 1/2 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.

Doctors say Bolsonaro’s double hernia causes 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 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.

Early Thursday, his eldest son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, told reporters before the surgery that his father had written a letter confirming he had appointed him as his political party’s presidential candidate in next year’s election. Flávio Bolsonaro announced on Dec. 5 that he will challenge President Luiz Inácio 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.

“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,” the former president said of his son in the handwritten letter, dated Dec. 25.

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.

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