The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported on Monday, without citing any sources, that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was hospitalized on Monday with “severe abdominal pain.”
Bolsonaro is believed to have been staying in the greater Orlando, Florida, area since the last week of 2022. Reporters and others in the area have published photos allegedly showing the former conservative president eating at a local KFC and meandering in a Publix supermarket.
Jair Bolsonaro wandering around a Publix. pic.twitter.com/PKX3EJ1QgT
— Jonathan L. Krohn (@JonathanLKrohn) January 5, 2023
Bolsonaro has endured years of painful health complications since a failed assassination attempt in 2018. During a campaign rally that year prior to the presidential election, a socialist later identified as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira stabbed Bolsonaro in the stomach on camera. The stabbing caused substantial damage to Bolsonaro’s digestive system, requiring semi-regular hospitalization.
The news of Bolsonaro’s alleged health woes follows a turbulent weekend in Brasilia, where thousands of opponents of far-left convicted felon Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, once again the president of the country as of January 1, stormed the headquarters of the national Congress and the top court, causing tremendous damage to the buildings and priceless historical artifacts stored there. Lula opponents argue that Lula’s multiple convictions on charges of corruption during his past stint at president should have disqualified him from being on the ballot and allege the Brazilian constitution grants the military the right to remove Lula. The armed forces have not responded positively to calls to overthrow the president.
Agents inspect a security room that was trashed inside Planalto Palace, the office of the president, the day after it was stormed by supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. The protesters also stormed Congress and the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
According to O Globo‘s Lauro Jardim, Bolsonaro was admitted to AdventHealth Celebration, a Florida hospital, with “severe abdominal pain.” The report did not mention any sources and did not elaborate on the alleged health problem. It mentioned the stabbing incident and noted that Bolsonaro was hospitalized most recently for complications from the assassination attempt in November.
Bolsonaro had previously been spotted in the Orlando area, on one occasion taking photos with Brazilian-Americans who recognized him in public.
The hospitalization may explain Bolsonaro’s relative silence on Sunday’s riot. Bolsonaro similarly offered minimal comment following his defeat in October’s presidential election, refusing to concede or make any public statements for days before offering a two-minute speech celebrating local conservative election victories and returning to silence.
Protesters, supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, clash with police during a protest outside the Planalto Palace building in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Other demonstrators stormed congress and the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
In mid-November, asked about the president’s apparent absence from the Planalto offices, then-Vice President Hamilton Mourao told reporters that Bolsonaro was suffering from erysipelas, a skin condition, causing a painful rash on his leg.
“He can’t wear pants, what is he supposed to do, go over there wearing shorts?” Mourao said at the time.
Bolsonaro has since been seen in public wearing pants, an indication that his condition has improved.
The protesters, many of whom are ardent Bolsonaro supporters and held up photos of the former president while storming the Congress, caused the near-total destruction of the STF headquarters, including the judges’ chambers and key meeting rooms, making it impossible for the justices to conduct business normally on Monday. The protesters also attempted to storm the Planalto Palace, the presidential offices, but caused only minimal damage before police intervened.
Protesters, supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Bolsonaro commented on the affair late on Sunday, comparing the incident to multiple left-wing riots in the recent past.
“Peaceful protests, according to the law, are part of democracy. However, destruction and invasion of public buildings like those that happened today, just as those committed by the left in 2013 and 2017, are out of line,” he wrote on Twitter. “Throughout my mandate [presidency], I was always within the confines of the constitution, respecting and defending the law, democracy, transparency, and our sacred liberty.”
Bolsonaro also attacked Lula for accusing Bolsonaro of orchestrating the assaults on the government buildings.
– Manifestações pacíficas, na forma da lei, fazem parte da democracia. Contudo, depredações e invasões de prédios públicos como ocorridos no dia de hoje, assim como os praticados pela esquerda em 2013 e 2017, fogem à regra.
— Jair M. Bolsonaro 2️⃣2️⃣ (@jairbolsonaro) January 9, 2023
Bolsonaro last posted to social media around 9 a.m. local time in Florida, boasting of his administration’s achievements, including the elimination of 27,000 government jobs; the privatization of several formerly government institutions, such as the mail; and several large-scale infrastructure projects.
The former president has not commented publicly on the news of his hospitalization at press time, nor have his children in Congress: Carlos Bolsonaro and Eduardo Bolsonaro in the Chamber of Deputies, and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.
Leftists have begun to call for Bolsonaro’s extradition and arrest following the riots, particularly in light of Lula claiming Bolsonaro was personally responsible for the violence. In the United States, members of Congress Joaquín Castro (D-TX) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pressured leftist President Joe Biden to remove Bolsonaro from American soil in response to the riots. Lula allies in Brazil have similarly demanded his extradition.
Bolsonaro supporters also fear that he could be imprisoned, according to O Globo.
“The political calculus of loyal allies, the more vulnerable Bolsonaro is and the less popular support he can attract, the greater the chances that he becomes ‘easy prey’ for the judiciary and ends up in jail,” The Brazilian newspaper of record relayed on Monday. Bolsonaro faces dozens of lawsuits by leftists for other unrelated matters, most prominently his opposition to Chinese coronavirus-inspired civil rights restrictions.
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