Brazil President Bolsonaro in hospital after feeling ‘discomfort’—local media

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro listens to Brazil’s Environment Minister Joaquim Leite during an event to promote the production and sustainable use of Biomethane at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil March 21, 2022.REUTERS

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was taken to hospital on Monday after feeling “discomfort”, his Communications Minister Fabio Faria said.

“He is alright,” Faria told Reuters, confirming earlier local media reports that the president was taken to the Army Hospital in Brasilia for tests.

Faria said the president felt bad, with abdominal discomfort, so he went to the hospital to be tested as he has a history of intestinal obstructions.

Bolsonaro was hospitalized in January for an intestinal obstruction that was cleared and he did not need surgery. The blockage was his latest complication from a stabbing in the stomach at a campaign stop in 2018.

Bolsonaro, who has begun campaigning for re-election in October, was due to attend a political meeting of the Republican Party but did not show up, local media reported.

The party’s president Marcos Pereira told reporters the president had instead gone to hospital feeling unwell, an aide to Pereira said.

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