Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro leaves hospital after treatment

Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro speaks to reporters as he leaves the hospital after recovering from an intestinal obstruction in Sao Paulo, Brazil (Nelson Antoine/AP)

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro left a hospital on Sunday after being treated there since last week for an intestinal obstruction.

Mr Bolsonaro, who was admitted to the Vila Nova Star Hospital in Sao Paulo on Wednesday because of abdominal pain and persistent hiccups, appeared to be in good spirits as he left and told journalists that he hoped to be eating barbecue ribs in 10 days.

Doctors had originally considered operating on the 66-year-old, but decided not to do so.

A fence surrounds the Armed Forces Hospital where Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was first admitted (Eraldo Peres/AP)

For some days, Mr Bolsonaro was fed through a tube, but he was deemed fit to leave the hospital after returning to normal food intake.

Social media posts had shown him walking around the hospital and he continued to work, meeting Cabinet ministers by videoconference.

In 2018, Mr Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen while on the campaign trail.

Since then, he has undergone several operations, some unrelated to the attack.