SAO PAULO, Brazil– Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro checked into the hospital Monday to undergo two surgeries stemming from a stabbing attack that nearly claimed his life in 2018.
Bolsonaro, 68, is scheduled to undergo the operations Tuesday at the private Vila Nova Star hospital in Sao Paulo, where the far-right ex-army captain has previously undergone treatment.
"With my love. We've arrived in Sao Paulo. Please pray for the surgical procedure he's undergoing tomorrow," Bolsonaro's wife, Michelle, posted on Instagram, alongside a picture of her and her husband smiling.
Bolsonaro (2019-2022) has had numerous health problems since being stabbed in the abdomen at a rally during the campaign that brought him to power.
He underwent four surgeries after the attack, perpetrated by a man later deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.
The politician dubbed the "Tropical Trump" has since been hospitalized multiple times for various issues stemming from the stabbing, including intestinal blockages and a severe case of the hiccups in 2021.
A convoy of cars with tinted windows arrived at the hospital Monday afternoon, as a pair of protesters waved posters calling for the divisive ex-president to be jailed, an AFP journalist said.
The hospital confirmed just before that Bolsonaro would be arriving to check in.
Bolsonaro's lawyer and aide Fabio Wajngarten told AFP the ex-president would undergo two surgeries, both related to the 2018 stabbing.
Bolsonaro spent two days in the same hospital last month for what Wajngarten called "routine exams" stemming from the same problems.
Bolsonaro, who lost his re-election bid to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last year, faces numerous investigations for corruption and abuse of office.
In June, electoral authorities barred him from running for office for eight years over his unproven accusations that Brazil's election system is fraud-prone.
In his latest legal headache, police are investigating him and his wife over allegations they tried to embezzle luxury jewelry received as official gifts from foreign governments during his presidency.