Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to a military hospital in Brasilia Monday to undergo tests after feeling unwell, local press reported.
Bolsonaro, 67, who was stabbed in the abdomen during the 2018 presidential campaign leaving him with repeat health problems, was absent from an evening event organized by the Republican Party which he had been slated to attend.
First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro, who attended the event, said her husband “is fine,” and Minister of Communication Fabio Faria reported that the president simply felt “discomfort,” according to the G1 news site.
Bolsonaro will remain overnight in the hospital, the publication said.
AFP contacted the presidential press service but did not immediately receive a response.
Culture Secretary Mario Frias meanwhile wrote on Twitter that he was “praying for the president.”
In January, Bolsonaro was hospitalized for two days in Sao Paulo with a partially blocked intestine.
The president, in power since 2019, was also admitted to hospital in mid-July with the same problem, staying for four days although he did not undergo surgery.
In September 2018, a month before the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, an attacker stabbed Bolsonaro in the abdomen at a campaign rally in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, puncturing his intestine multiple times.
Bolsonaro lost some 40 percent of his blood and underwent emergency surgery in the near-fatal incident, which was carried out by a man later declared mentally unfit to stand trial.
Due to the stab wound, the far-right leader has undergone at least four surgeries, including the placement and subsequent removal of a colostomy bag, which made him more prone to intestinal disorders.
File photo shows Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attending the 55th summit of the South American trade bloc Mercosur (Southern Common Market) in Bento Goncalves, Brazil, Dec. 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)
