Brazilian president comes out of surgery

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro came out of a seven-hour-long surgery Monday during which doctors removed the colostomy bag put into place after he was stabbed in a campaign rally in September.

Presidential spokesman Gen. Otavio Santana do Rego Barros said the operation, which began at 8:30 a.m. local time, was a success.

“The procedure lasted seven hours and occurred without complications” Rego Barros said at a press conference, describing the surgery as a “work of art”.

“At the moment, the patient is clinically stable, conscious, pain-free, in the intensive care unit,” read a statement released by the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, where Bolsonaro checked in on Sunday evening.

Vice-President Hamilton Mourao took the reins on Monday morning as interim president for a period of 48 hours. Bolsonaro is then expected to resume work from his hospital room, where he will stay for several days.

Bolsonaro, 63, nearly died on Sept. 6 after he was stabbed during a campaign rally in the southeastern city of Juiz de Fora. The far-right president suffered serious internal bleeding and intestinal damage.