Brazil's Bolsonaro, stabbed in 2018, may need emergency surgery

BRASILIA, (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was transferred to a Sao Paulo hospital yesterday to undergo tests for an obstructed intestine, with the president's office saying he could receive emergency surgery in his latest health complication from a 2018 stabbing.

The Vila Nova Star hospital in Sao Paulo, where Bolsonaro, 66, was transferred, said late on Wednesday that the president would remain hospitalized "initially under conservative management."

His son Flavio, speaking to radio station Jovem Pan, said Bolsonaro had earlier in the day 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 news of Bolsonaro's hospitalization comes as the far-right leader is sinking in opinion polls due to his handling of the world's second-deadliest coronavirus pandemic and a simmering corruption scandal over his government's purchase of vaccines.

It also caps days of questions over his health due to a chronic case of hiccups, a stubborn cough following a 2020 COVID-19 infection, and a series of surgeries after the campaign-trail stabbing shortly before his 2018 election victory.

Shortly after news of his transfer to Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro posted on his Facebook page a photo of himself smiling with his eyes closed and lying in a hospital bed covered in sensors and cables. What appears to be a priest, with a golden crucifix, stood by his side, placing his hand on the president's shoulder.