Brazil’s Bolsonaro in Surgery Following September Stabbing

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is undergoing a previously scheduled surgery on Monday to reverse a colostomy carried out after he was stabbed on the campaign trail last September.

The procedure at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo began early on Monday, putting Vice President Hamilton Mourao temporarily in charge, according to a statement from the presidential press office.

Pre-surgery exams on Sunday had shown Bolsonaro to be in "normal" conditions and his spokesman, Otavio Rego Barros, said the president was in good spirits. Bolsonaro’s recovery is expected to last several days. Most people are well enough to leave the hospital 3 to 10 days after having colostomy reversal surgery, according to the website of the U.K.’s National Health Service.

The stabbing by a fanatic in September shocked Latin America’s largest nation and, according to political analysts at the time, triggered a sympathy vote and helped him clinch victory in October’s election.

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