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Brazil‘s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been admitted into a hospital in Orlando, Florida, after experiencing ‘severe abdominal pains.’
The far-right politician, who is living in Florida, was rushed to Advent Health Celebration hospital because of his ailments, local media reports.
Details of his ‘severe pains’ have not yet been released – but his admission comes just hours after his supporters wreaked havoc and stormed Brazil’s Congress.
They refused to accept Bolsonaro’s election defeat and yesterday charged into the Supreme Court and presidential palace – just one week after the inauguration of his leftist rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen during his 2018 presidential campaign. He is pictured here on January 3, 2022, giving the thumbs-up from his hospital bed after being admitted for an abdominal problems, in Sao Paulo, Brazil
He was taken to Advent Health Celebration hospital in Orlando, Florida, on Monday
The attack – reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 invasion of the US Capitol building by supporters of former president Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally – took the intervention of military police to bring calm to Brasilia’s Three Powers Square.
Bolsonaro, who seemingly has ongoing issues with his abdomen, was previously admitted to hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in January 2022 because of a blockage found in his intestines.
He posted an image of himself lying in bed with his thumbs up after being admitted into a ward, telling followers he may have ‘surgery for an internal blockage in the abdominal region.’
Bolsonaro, 67, was stabbed in the abdomen during his successful 2018 presidential campaign and has undergone at least four surgeries since.
He lost nearly 40 percent of his blood during the attack four years ago. It’s unclear if his latest ailments in Florida are linked to the stabbing in 2018.
Former President Jair Bolsonaro has been rushed to hospital in Orlando, Florida
Bolsonaro poses for a photo while sitting in his hospital room at the Albert Einstein Hospital, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, August 8, 2018. He was stabbed in the abdomen during his presidential campaign
Pictured: Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, center, meets with supporters outside a vacation home where he is staying near Orlando, on Wednesday, January 4, 2023
While in Florida, Bolsonaro has allegedly been staying at the home of Jose Aldo, a retired Brazilian professional MMA fighter and UFC champion.
The pair were pictured inside what appeared to be Aldo’s Orlando home, a found a few miles from Disney World.
The former president posed in MMA gloves, and in one photo even had Aldo jokingly in a headlock – as the pair beamed from ear to ear.
Bolsonaro, who is facing a variety of investigations at home for his time in the presidential office, arrived in Florida late December 30. Reports suggest he plans to stay in the United States for at least a month – and maybe up to three.
Since arriving, he has been filmed wandering around his temporary neighborhood soaking up the adoration of expat Brazilian supporters who flocked to the house where he is staying, and even staged a mini rally in support.
Pictured: Bolsonaro supporters film him outside a home in Florida as he greets them on the driveway. The former Brazilian president arrived in the state on December 30
According to the Orlando Sentinel, more than 50 well-wishers – some draped in the yellow and green flags of Brazil – gathered outside the residence.
For 30 minutes, Bolsonaro posed for photos with his supporters, and even wore a USA soccer jersey, as they gathered on the driveway of what was reported to be Jose Aldo’s home.
He also also been filmed inside a local Publix grocery store, with one shopper filming the formal president perusing the aisles before he realized he was on camera. When he did notice the camera, he flashed a slightly awkward thumbs up.
The timing of Bolsonaro’s arrival to Florida raised eyebrows on account of it meaning that he missed the inauguration of his successor Lula on January 1 – breaking with tradition that calls for a symbolic peaceful transfer of power.
Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting Lula’s electoral win since October 30, blocking roads, setting vehicles on fire and gathering outside military buildings, urging the armed forces to intervene.
The head of Brazil’s electoral authority rejected the request from Bolsonaro and his political party to nullify ballots cast on most electronic voting machines.
Now, US president Joe Biden is facing mounting calls to remove Bolsonaro from his self-imposed bolt-hole.
Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro invade the National Congress in Brasilia on January 8, 2023
Supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as security forces operate, outside Brazil’s National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, January 8, 2023
Some US politicians have not been sympathetic to Bolsonaro – with Democrats calling for the United States to force him back to his country after a mob of his supporters stormed government buildings on Sunday.
Progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urged the U.S. government to ‘stop granting refuge’ to the authoritarian leader.
Meanwhile Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro told CNN that Bolsonaro ‘should be sent back to Brazil.’
‘Nearly 2 years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil,’ Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter Sunday.
‘The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida,’ she wrote.
Castro had accused Bolsonaro, who proudly embraced the nickname ‘Trump of the Tropics,’ of using the ex-president’s ‘playbook’ in refusing to admit defeat and undermining confidence in an election that he lost.
‘I stand with the democratically elected leadership in Brazil,’ Castro told CNN. ‘And he basically used the Trump playbook to inspire domestic terrorists to try and take over the government.’
Castro added that it ‘looks a lot like January 6 in the United States.’
‘Right now, Bolsonaro is in Florida, he’s actually very close to Donald Trump – he should be extradited to Brazil. In fact, it was reported that he was under investigation for corruption and fled Brazil to the United States,’ the Democrat went on.
‘We were talking about asylum-seekers and immigration earlier – Republicans make a big deal and try to scare people about bad people in those groups coming to the United States. Well we know where one of them is, Jair Bolsonaro is in Florida hanging out with Donald Trump. He’s a dangerous man.’
Asked if he was directly calling on the Biden administration to remove the former leader, Castro emphatically pressed: ‘Yes, absolutely. Bolsonaro should not be in Florida, the United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil.’
From Florida on Sunday, Bolsonaro rejected the accusation that he inflamed his supporters, resulting in the storming of the government buildings.
He said on Twitter that peaceful demonstrations were democratic but the invasion of government buildings ‘crossed the line.’
‘Peaceful demonstrations, in the form of the law, are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, escape the rule,’ he wrote.
‘Throughout my mandate, I have always been within the four lines of the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom. In addition, I repudiate the accusations, without evidence, attributed to me by the current head of the executive of Brazil.’
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