Brazil's former President Bolsonaro hospitalised with abdominal pain

The medical team assisting Bolsonaro at Rio Grande Hospital said that his condition was stable and there was no indication for surgery

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was hospitalised Friday morning (April 11, 2025) with abdominal pain while travelling in northeastern Brazil, his political party said.

The pain was related to long-term effects of a stabbing to the abdomen he suffered in September 2018, the press office of his Liberal Party said.

Mr. Bolsonaro has been in and out of hospitals since the incident at a campaign event before Brazil's 2018 presidential election. The conservative leader underwent several surgeries during his presidency from 2019-2022.

He was admitted on Friday to a hospital in Santa Cruz, a small city in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte. Sen Flavio Bolsonaro, one of his sons, said he would be transferred to a hospital in the state's capital, Natal.

On Friday afternoon, the medical team assisting Mr. Bolsonaro at Rio Grande Hospital said that his condition was stable and there was no indication for surgery. The former president would undergo additional imaging exams, they added.

Mr. Bolsonaro was set to start a trip across the northeastern region to promote his party's right-wing agenda, eyeing next year's presidential election, though he himself is barred from running.

The region traditionally has been a political bastion of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

In March, a panel of Brazil Supreme Court justices accepted charges against Mr. Bolsonaro over an alleged attempt to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat, and ordered him to stand trial.

The former president was also barred from running for office until 2030 by Brazil's electoral court, for making unfounded claims that voting machines were rigged.

Published - April 12, 2025 03:36 am IST