Brasilia, Brazil. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was hospitalised in an intensive care unit on Friday after being diagnosed with bronchopneumonia, according to a medical note from DF Star hospital. Doctors said his condition was serious and that he is expected to remain in hospital for at least the next few days.
Hospital admission and treatment
Bolsonaro, 70, was taken from prison to the hospital in Brasilia early on Friday with a high fever, chills and a drop in oxygen saturation, the medical note said. The note added that he is being treated with antibiotics.
One of the doctors treating him, Brasil Caiado, told reporters in Brasilia that surgery had been ruled out for now.
Bronchopneumonia is a lung infection that spreads from the airways into the lungs, posing problems such as breathing difficulties.
Sentence and renewed calls for house arrest
Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The Bolsonaro family and his lawyers have called for the former president to be placed under house arrest since he was jailed last year. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees the case, has denied previous petitions, with a panel at the court upholding his decision.
“Jair Bolsonaro’s life is being deliberately put at risk,” his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, said in an X post, adding, “there is no longer any justification” for not placing Bolsonaro under humanitarian house arrest.
Political context
Flavio Bolsonaro has announced himself as a prospective candidate in Brazil’s 2026 presidential election, to be held in October. In the past week, at least two public opinion polls showed he and Lula statistically tied in a potential second-round matchup.
How do you think Bolsonaro’s hospitalisation could affect the debate over humanitarian house arrest?
