Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro cleared to leave hospital

Medical treatment was linked to leader's stabbing in 2018

President Bolsonaro was taken to a Sao Paulo hospital early on Monday. AP
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday said he had been cleared for release from hospital after being treated for an intestinal blockage.

“Authorised to leave now. Thanks to everyone,” the 66-year-old president said on Twitter, along with a photo of himself surrounded by his doctors at the Sao Paulo hospital where he was admitted on Monday.

The president's medical team on Tuesday said he would not need surgery after the obstruction in his gut was cleared.

The blockage was Mr Bolsonaro's latest complication from a 2018 stabbing.

The president has undergone a series of emergency operations since being attacked during a campaign event in September 2018.

The Brazilian president said on Twitter on Monday that he started feeling unwell on Sunday after lunch. He had been on holiday in the southern state of Santa Catarina and was urgently taken to Sao Paulo by plane.

Mr Bolsonaro said it was the second time he had gone to hospital “with the same symptoms” in a few months.

In July 2021, he was taken to the Vila Nova Star hospital for an intestinal blockage after suffering chronic hiccups.

Mr Bolsonaro has been in power since 2019 and plans to stand for re-election as president in October.

Updated: January 05, 2022, 12:56 PM