Sons of injured Brazil candidate take control of campaign

RIO DE JANEIRO: The sons of seriously wounded rightwing Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro – who was in hospital Saturday after his campaign trail assault – said he was making progress, as they took his campaign reins.

Flavio and Eduardo Bolsonaro, two of the leading presidential candidate’s five children said their father “is on the road to recovery. And it’s likely that he won’t be back on the streets during this campaign. But we can be,” Flavio told reporters.

The 63-year- old patriarch is ‘conscious and in good condition’ while receiving treatment in intensive care at Albert Einstein hospital, an update from the facility said. He did not have a fever or other signs of infection.

On Thursday, a left-wing activist, claiming to be on ‘a mission from God,’ knifed Bolsonaro as he campaigned in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. The candidate sustained massive blood loss.

“My father continues to improve and he has started the physical therapy,” Flavio said on Twitter.

Last week, Bolsonaro was catapulted to the top of polls ahead of the Oct 7 first round, after an electoral court barred jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from standing in the vote.

Lula, 72, is serving a 12-year sentence after he was convicted of accepting a seaside apartment as a bribe.

Despite being a long- serving member of Congress, Bolsonaro has successfully presented himself as an outsider, untouched by the corruption scandals engulfing so much of the political elite. — AFP