Bolsonaro hospitalised after 'chronic hiccups', may need surgery to remove intestinal obstruction

After Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to hospital due to persistent hiccups, it was revealed that the far-right leader is suffering from an "intestinal obstruction," the government said. If the surgery is confirmed, it would be the president's seventh surgery since he was stabbed by a former member of the Socialist and Freedom Party (PSOL), a group that broke away from the Workers' Party (PT) of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is eyeing a run against Bolsonaro next year.

The 66-year-old had been complaining publicly since last week about suffering from hiccups following a July 3 surgery on a dental implant.

At first, he was taken to a military hospital in the capital Brasilia but was then flown in a Brazilian Air Force plane to Sao Paulo where he was admitted to the Vila Nova Star private hospital. There he underwent clinical, laboratory and imaging tests and was being kept in the hospital, for the time being, doctors said.

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"He is in good spirits and feels well," the presidency had said earlier in the day.

Also, Bolsonaro was examined in Brasilia by Antonio Macedo. He has operated on the president several times since he was stabbed in the abdomen in 2018 while on the campaign trail.

The hospital said he would "initially" be given a "conservative clinical treatment."

Speaking to a local radio station last week, Bolsonaro had said: "This happened to me before, maybe due to the medicine I'm taking, I have hiccups 24 hours a day."

Bolsonaro also contracted Covid-19 last year. However, his symptoms were mild and he did not need hospital treatment.

Bolsonaro is also being investigated by the public prosecutor for allegedly failing to act on an embezzlement tip-off regarding coronavirus vaccine purchases.

The opposition is pushing for the chamber of deputies president to open impeachment proceedings against Bolsonaro.