Jair Bolsonaro, former President of Brazil, underwent successful hernia surgery after being granted court permission to leave prison for treatment.
On Thursday, 25 Dec 2025 GMT+7, Michelle, wife of Jair Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president serving a prison sentence, revealed that her husband had successfully undergone double hernia surgery.
The former leader is serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazil's Supreme Court authorized 70-year-old Bolsonaro to leave the central police command detention where he was held, to be admitted to a hospital in Brasília, the capital, for surgery.
Before undergoing surgery, Jair Bolsonaro announced his support for his eldest son, Flavio, to run for president in the 2026 election.
The former president conveyed his decision in a handwritten letter read aloud by Flavio Bolsonaro outside the hospital where his father was receiving treatment.
"Throughout my life, I have fought difficult battles, paying a high price in both health and family, to protect what I believed was best for our country," Bolsonaro wrote in the letter.
"I entrust the most important thing in a father's life—my son—to carry out the mission of restoring our Brazil."
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, aged 44, had previously announced his presidential candidacy under his father's Liberal Party.
Earlier in December, Flavio said his father had entrusted him with "the mission to continue our national project," and Jair Bolsonaro’s letter published by Brazilian media officially confirmed the senator’s full support from his father.
Meanwhile, current President Lula da Silva has announced plans to run again in the presidential election scheduled for October 2026.
In the 2022 presidential election, a runoff was required between then-President Bolsonaro and former president Lula da Silva.
After Lula narrowly won, Bolsonaro refused to accept the election result and was accused of conspiring with senior military leaders to block Lula from taking office.
Although the plan lacked sufficient military backing to proceed, it led to supporters of Bolsonaro storming government buildings on 8 Jan 2023.
Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting a coup and sentenced to prison in September this year.
Despite his conviction, Bolsonaro remains politically influential; Brazil’s Congress passed a bill last week to greatly reduce his sentence, but President Lula said he would veto the legislation.
Bolsonaro is expected to be returned to the central police command detention as soon as doctors allow.
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Source:bbc