Bolsonaro’s operation addressed a painful double hernia; doctors anticipate five to seven days of hospitalisation.By News AgenciesPublished On 25 Dec 202525 Dec 2025Click here to share on social mediashare2ShareFormer Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a prison sentence for an attempted coup, underwent a “successful” surgery for an inguinal hernia, his wife has said.The 70-year-old former leader left prison on Wednesday for the first time since late November to undergo the procedure on Thursday at the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“Successful surgery completed, without complications. Now we wait for him to wake up from anaesthesia,” his wife Michelle announced in an Instagram post.Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since November for an attempted coup. He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed that he needed the procedure.Doctors say Bolsonaro’s double hernia causes him pain. The former leader, who was in power between 2019 and 2022, has gone through several other surgeries since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018. He was also diagnosed with skin cancer recently.Doctors for the far-right president from 2019 to 2022 anticipated that his hospitalisation would last between five and seven more days.The surgery was to repair an inguinal hernia – a protrusion in the groin area due to a tear in the abdominal muscles.“It is a complex surgery,” Dr Claudio Birolini said on Wednesday. “But it is a standardised … scheduled surgery, so we expect the procedure to be carried out without major complications.”After the operation, doctors are to assess whether Bolsonaro can undergo an additional procedure: blockage of the phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm, for recurrent hiccups, Birolini said. Advertisement Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to prison in September after he was found guilty of having led a scheme to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office and to retain power.Bolsonaro has maintained his innocence, declaring he was a victim of political persecution.He has been confined to a small room with a minibar, air conditioning and a television at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia.SuccessionEarly on Thursday, his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, told reporters before the surgery that his father had written a letter confirming he had appointed him as the Liberal Party’s presidential candidate in next year’s election. Flavio announced on December 5 that he would challenge Lula, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, as the party’s candidate.The senator read the letter to journalists, and his office released a reproduction of it to the media.“He represents the continuation of the path of prosperity that I began well before becoming president, as I believe we must restore the responsibility of leading Brazil with justice, resolve and loyalty to the aspirations of the Brazilian people,” Bolsonaro said in the handwritten let …
