Jair Bolsonaro, a former president of Brazil and member of the far-right, posted a picture of himself on Monday from a hospital in the United States, one day after his followers invaded the Brasilia government building and attracted international criticism.
Two days before his tenure on December 31 came to an end, Bolsonaro traveled to Orlando, Florida, in the southern US state, where he released the picture of himself lying in a hospital bed.
During his successful election campaign in 2018, the former president of Brazil was stabbed in the abdomen and has since undergone many surgeries.
He tweeted that he was hospitalized in Orlando, USA, and that “Yesterday I had fresh adhesions.”
“Thank you for your prayers and messages for a speedy recovery,” the 67-year-old continued.
His hospitalization was announced the day after far-right protesters descended upon the Brazilian capital’s Congress, Supreme Court, and Presidential Palace, destroying the structures in scenes reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 attacks on the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally.
Bolsonaro’s wife Michelle had earlier on Monday announced on Instagram that the far-right politician was being watched in the hospital “due to abdominal discomfort resulting from the stabbing attack he suffered in 2018.”
According to the Brazilian publication O Globo, Bolsonaro was checked into the AdventHealth Celebration acute care hospital outside of Orlando.
The Orlando hospital did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry.
The incumbent president, veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated him in the election, skipped the customary passing of the presidential sash on January 1.
He has been residing at the former mixed martial arts champion Jose Aldo’s house in Orlando, which is close to Disney World.
Bolsonaro also used Twitter late on Sunday to denounce the “pillaging” in Brasilia. He refuted Lula’s assertion that he instigated the violence and defended the freedom to “peaceful protests,” though.
As a result of the knife attack in 2018 that was committed by an attacker who was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial, Bolsonaro has experienced a number of health issues.
