Brazil’s jailed ex-President Bolsonaro undergoes ‘successful’ surgery

Bolsonaro’s operation addressed a painful double hernia; doctors anticipate five to seven days of hospitalisation.Published On 25 Dec 2025Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a prison sentence for an attempted coup, underwent a “successful” surgery for an inguinal hernia, his wife has said.The 70-year-old former leader left prison on Wednesday for the first time since late November to undergo the procedure on Thursday at the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Brazilian Supreme Court says Bolsonaro can leave prison to undergo surgerylist 2 of 3Flavio Bolsonaro retracts suggestion of a ‘price’ to end 2026 election bidlist 3 of 3Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies passes bill to lower Bolsonaro’s sentenceend of list“Successful surgery completed, without complications. Now we wait for him to wake up from anaesthesia,” his wife Michelle announced in an Instagram post.Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since November for an attempted coup. He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed that he needed the procedure.Doctors say Bolsonaro’s double hernia causes him pain. The former leader, who was in power between 2019 and 2022, has gone through several other surgeries since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018. He was also diagnosed with skin cancer recently.Doctors for the far-right president from 2019 to 2022 anticipated that his hospitalisation would last between five and seven more days.The surgery was to repair an inguinal hernia – a protrusion in the groin area due to a tear in the abdominal muscles.“It is a complex surgery,” Dr Claudio Birolini said on Wednesday. “But it is a standardised … scheduled surgery, so we expect the procedure to be carried out without major complications.”After the operation, doctors are to assess whether Bolsonaro can undergo an additional procedure: blockage of the phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm, for recurrent hiccups, Birolini said.