Brazil’s president hospitalized with hiccups, abdominal pain
Brasilia, Jul 14 (EFE).- Jair Bolsonaro has been hospitalized after experiencing persistent hiccups for almost a week and abdominal pain, according to a statement from the Brazilian president’s office on Wednesday.
Bolsonaro will be under medical supervision for up to 48 hours to investigate the cause of the hiccups, the statement added.
The 66-year-old’s agenda for the day was canceled, including his meeting with Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco, Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira and Supreme Court president Luiz Fux, among other activities.
According to local media, the goal of the meeting was to smooth out the rough edges between the three after Bolsonaro attacked the integrity of the country’s electronic voting system and defended the printed vote for the upcoming 2022 presidential elections, in which he could run for a second term.
Last year, Bolsonaro underwent a surgery at a Sao Paulo hospital for the removal of a kidney stone.
He has undergone five operations in the last three years, four of which were during his recovery from a knife attack he suffered at a campaign rally in 2018.
Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen area while he was sitting on supporters’ shoulders in Juiz de Fora town in the southeastern State of Minas Gerais.
The stabber was arrested immediately after the attack but was acquitted over mental health issues.
The coronavirus-skeptic leader tested positive for the virus in July last year and spent 20 days in isolation at his official residence in Brasilia.
wgm/smq/mp
