Brazil, September 7
Brazil’s presidential campaign was thrown into chaos on Friday as the far-right front-runner was in serious condition after he was stabbed at a rally, just a month before the vote, raising fears of increased violence in the wide-open race.
Congressman Bolsonaro has angered many Brazilians by saying he would encourage police to ramp up their killing of suspected drug gang members and armed criminals, but he has a devoted following among conservative voters.
He could need two months to fully recover from Thursday’s attack and will spend at least a week in the hospital, following the life-threatening injuries, doctors said. Bolsonaro was flown from Juiz de Fora in Minas Gerais state Friday morning, and is now in the Sirio Libanes hospital in Sao Paulo, one of the nation’s elite institutions.
Dr Luiz Henrique Borsato, who operated on the candidate, said the internal wounds were “grave” and “put the patient’s life at risk”, but that he was stable early Friday. Doctors were worried about an infection since Bolsonaro’s intestines were perforated, he added. The knife reached 12 cm inside his abdomen and the candidate lost 2 litres of blood, the family said. — Reuters
Limited campaign time
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Under Brazil’s campaign laws, Jair Bolsonaro’s tiny coalition got almost no campaign time on government-regulated candidate ad blocs
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He relied on social media and rallies around Brazil to drum up support. Not being able to go out in the streets could impact his campaign
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Flavio Bolsonaro, his son, said the attack was a political boost
Suspect caught
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The Federal Police said its officers were escorting Bolsonaro at the time of the knife attack
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The local police said the suspect, Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, 40, appeared to be mentally disturbed
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Police video taken at a precinct and aired by ‘TV Globo’ showed Oliveira telling police he had been ordered by God to carry the attack
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