President Hospitalised Over Abdominal Pains, May Need Surgery

President has been hospitalised over abdominal pains.

Newsone reports that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been transferred to a hospital in Sao Paulo for tests on a potentially obstructed intestine.

This online news platform understands that the office of the President made this known on Wednesday, July 14, after the far-right leader endured a 10-day bout of chronic hiccups.

Newsone reports that the 66-year-old Brazilian President had been complaining publicly about the hiccups following surgery on a dental implant on July 3.

The Vila Nova Star hospital in Sao Paulo, where President Bolsonaro is now warded, said late on Wednesday that the president would remain in hospital “initially under conservative management” following reports that he would need emergency surgery.

Communications Minister Fabio Faria said the 66-year-old President schedule would be cleared for 48 hours.

What we know about the President’s health

Newsone reports that President Bolsonaro’s son Flavio, speaking to radio station Jovem Pan, said that earlier in the day is father been moved to an intensive care unit in Brasilia and intubated.

“He ended up being intubated to keep him from breathing in liquid coming from his stomach,” Flavio Bolsonaro said in the interview.

President Bolsonaro’s office had said he had been taken to a military hospital in the capital Brasilia “to undergo tests and to investigate the cause of the hiccups”.

“This is happening at a time when President Jair Bolsonaro is going through the worst period of his 2 1/2 year presidency,” said Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew, who is in Rio de Janeiro. “The Senate is investigating the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his popularity has been taking a severe blow.”

Shortly after news of his transfer to Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro posted on his Facebook page a photo of himself smiling with his eyes closed and lying in a hospital bed covered in sensors and cables.

“I thank everyone for their support and prayers,” Bolsonaro said in the post.

Meanwhile, Newsone reports that President Bolsonaro’s health has been an issue for much of his presidency, after he was stabbed in the intestines on the campaign trail in 2018 and nearly died. The attack has required multiple follow-up operations. Pro-Bolsonaro federal legislator Bia Kicis wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that Bolsonaro’s hospitalisation was “a consequence of the 2018 knifing”.