Conservative former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro will undergo surgery on Christmas Day on Thursday to repair two inguinal hernias, local outlets reported.
The former President, diagnosed with skin cancer in September, is presently serving a 27-year prison sentence on dubious charges of “crimes against democracy.” Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorized the procedure. He is reportedly expected to leave his detention center for the first time on Wednesday and will be escorted by security to the DF Star Hospital in the Brazilian capital — the same hospital that Bolsonaro has undergone past medical procedures at.
The Brazilian outlet Poder 360 explained that Bolsonaro will be subjected to a bilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy, an elective surgery recommended by the former President’s medical team due to the risk of complications derived from his existing medical conditions. Medical imaging tests that Bolsonaro took earlier this month confirmed the surgery as a “definitive” way to treat the hernias.
According to the court order, which Poder 360 published a copy of, Brazil’s Federal Police must provide complete, 24-hour surveillance and security at the hospital during Bolsonaro’s stay with “at least two federal police officers stationed at the door” of his room, with as many police teams deemed necessary inside and outside the hospital. Bolsonaro’s transfer to the hospital must be “discreet” and he is to be dropped-off at the hospital’s garages.
The entry of cell phones, computers, or any other kind of electronic device into Bolsonaro’s room is strictly forbidden; only medical equipment is allowed. Former First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro was given authorization to accompany her husband throughout the hospitalization, with other visits requiring court authorization.
Although de Moraes authorized the surgery, the Brazilian Justice reportedly denied yet another humanitarian house arrest request for Bolsonaro filed by the former President’s legal team. According to the outlet Metrópoles, de Moraes argued that the legislation provides this benefit only for those convicted under “open prison conditions, which does not apply to the former president.”
Bolsonaro was slated to speak with Metrópoles on Tuesday, his first interview since de Moraes had him placed under a strict house arrest prior to his transfer to a Federal Police Superintendency in Brasília. Bolsonaro, through a handwritten note, cancelled the interview, citing health reasons.
Hours later, one of his sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is slated to run for President next year, called for supporters of his father to continue praying for his health.
“As everyone knows, he is about to be admitted to hospital for surgery. Some days he wakes up feeling fine, other days he wakes up feeling worse. So today may have been a day when he woke up feeling more unwell,” he reportedly wrote on social media.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian Congress approved a bill that, if turned into law, could potentially reduce Bolsonaro’s sentence all the way down to just two years. Last week, socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that he will veto the bill as soon as it arrives to his desk. As per the terms of his sentence, Jair Bolsonaro, 70, will only be able to run for office again in 2060 when, if he is still alive, he will be 105 years old.
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