Brazil’s Ex-President Bolsonaro’s Health Deteriorates in Prison Hospital

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's kidney problems have gotten worse while he's being treated for pneumonia at a hospital in Brazil's capital. The 70-year-old is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup in 2023.

Medical officials at a Brasilia hospital report that imprisoned former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s kidney problems have deteriorated since his transfer to intensive care earlier this week. The 70-year-old ex-leader is battling pneumonia, and doctors describe his condition as serious yet stable.

Hospital staff moved Bolsonaro from his prison cell to DF Star Hospital on Friday after he developed concerning symptoms including high fever, difficulty breathing, excessive sweating, and chills. Medical tests revealed he has bronchopneumonia, which doctors believe developed from aspiration.

The former leader, who held office from 2019 to 2022, is currently serving a 27-year sentence for orchestrating a failed coup attempt in 2023. Medical staff noted that inflammatory indicators in his blood have risen since beginning treatment.

Bolsonaro’s family members have repeatedly petitioned Brazil’s Supreme Court to allow him to serve his sentence at home, arguing that prison medical care has been inadequate. Prison officials moved him from federal police headquarters to more spacious accommodations in January.

This latest hospitalization continues a pattern of medical issues stemming from a 2018 stabbing incident during his presidential campaign. His son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is preparing to challenge current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in upcoming elections, addressed reporters about his father’s condition.

“Unfortunately we have to learn how to live with this. It is not the first, the second or the third time my father is hospitalized because of the problems coming from the stabbing,” Flávio Bolsonaro told journalists in Brasilia. “He is stable, he did not improve, but he is stable.”

The former president faces additional convictions related to leading an armed criminal organization and attempting to violently overthrow democratic institutions. Bolsonaro maintains his innocence on all charges.