Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro undergoes new surgery for bowel obstruction

SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro underwent a new surgery for a bowel obstruction and doctors in Brasilia said the procedure ended late Sunday after more than 12 hours.

The conservative leader has been hospitalized since Friday due to problems 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.

There were no complications during the procedure, and Bolsonaro is now recovering in intensive care in stable condition, they said in a statement.

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.