Bolsonaro Hospitalized in US After Brasilia Riots, O Globo Says

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s ex-President Jair Bolsonaro has been admitted to a US hospital with abdominal pain a day after his supporters stormed Brasilia demanding military intervention against his loss in the October election, according to his wife.

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The conservative leader, who traveled to the US on Dec. 30 to skip the inauguration of his successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is being treated at the AdventHealth Celebration, a hospital near Orlando, O Globo newspaper reported earlier, without revealing how it obtained the information.

Bolsonaro’s wife confirmed he’s hospitalized though she didn’t say where. A former aide to Bolsonaro, who requested anonymity to discuss his heath, said he was being treated for possible intestinal obstruction. The ex-president has undergone several surgeries after being stabbed in the abdomen while campaigning in 2018.

The former president on Monday evening posted a photograph of himself on his Twitter page showing him in a hospital bed, adding that he’s in Orlando. “Thanks for the prayers and messages of speedy recovery,” he said.

Emails and calls to the US hospital went unanswered.

While Lula has alleged that Bolsonaro had been encouraging the riots in Brasilia, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday the Biden administration hasn’t received any requests from Brazil to extradite the former president.

Read More: Lula Asserts Authority in Brazil as 1,500 Bolsonaro Backers Held

Bolsonaro published on social media on Sunday, speaking out against the depredation of public buildings carried out by his supporters in Brasilia, and again on Monday, touting his government’s achievements.

--With assistance from Felipe Marques.

(Updates story with Bolsonaro’s tweet, comment in fourth paragraph)

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