Brazil’s Bolsonaro out of intensive care as health improves

2026-03-16 - 23:54

Jair Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, is serving a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup. (EPA Images pic) BRASILIA: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been moved out of intensive care to a step-down unit after showing improvement in symptoms from pneumonia which he developed in prison, his wife said Monday. Bolsonaro, 70, was rushed Friday to the hospital from the Papuda prison in Brasilia, where he is serving a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup. The far-right leader, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was diagnosed with bilateral bacterial pneumonia. On Monday, doctors at the DF Star Hospital said his kidney function had continued to improve and he was responding well to antibiotic treatment. “With the improvement in infection markers, my love was transferred to a semi-intensive care unit,” his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, wrote on Instagram. The clinic said Bolsonaro’s lung infection stems from a process called bronchoaspiration, in which gastric material like food is inhaled into the respiratory tract rather than the esophagus. It has been a frequent problem for Bolsonaro since he was stabbed in the abdomen in 2018 while campaigning to become president. The attack has led to numerous operations and other health problems, including persistent hiccups and vomiting, which doctors said was the direct cause of his current lung infection. Last year Bolsonaro was jailed for his role in a botched coup attempt after his 2022 election loss to president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro’s lawyers have repeatedly asked that he be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest but the Supreme Court has rejected these requests.