Brazilian President Still Hospitalised, May Need Fast Surgery

Brazilian President Still Hospitalised, May Need Fast Surgery

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been transferred to a hospital in Sao Paulo for tests on a potentially obstructed intestine, his office said on Wednesday, after the far-right leader endured a 10-day bout of chronic hiccups.

The 66-year-old 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 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 president’s schedule would be cleared for 48 hours.

Bolsonaro’s son Flavio, speaking to radio station Jovem Pan, said that earlier in the day his father had 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.

The president’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”.