Brazil's former President Bolsonaro undergoes new surgery for bowel obstruction

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is undergoing a new surgery in Brasilia

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is undergoing a new surgery Sunday morning in Brasilia, his doctors said.

The conservative leader has been hospitalized since Friday due to a bowel obstruction related to long-term effects of being stabbed in the abdomen in September 2018. Doctors at the DF Star Hospital said new imaging exams revealed the need for surgery to remove intestinal adhesions and reconstruct the abdominal wall.

Bolsonaro has been in and out of hospitals since the attack at a campaign event before Brazil’s 2018 presidential election. He underwent several surgeries during his presidency from 2019-2022.

Bolsonaro was admitted Friday to a hospital in Santa Cruz, a small city in Rio Grande do Norte, and later transferred to a hospital in the state’s capital, Natal. On Saturday, his family requested his transfer to Brasilia, doctors said.

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 Inácio Lula da Silva.