MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro recovering from a five hour surgery; in ten days he returns to Brasília

Bolsonaro is recovering after five hour surgery and will be flown from Sao Paulo to Brasilia later this week

Vice President Hamilton Mourão will be Brazil's acting president through Thursday while president Jair Bolsonaro recovers from abdominal surgery resulting from his stabbing at a political rally last year, his spokesman said on Sunday.

Bolsonaro was stable after a successful five-hour surgery, the presidential palace said in a statement. Originally surgery was described as simple, but could be complicated and estimated to last two to three hours under full anesthesia.

Sunday's surgery was to correct an incisional hernia due to a weakening of certain tissues from three previous surgeries in the president's abdomen after he was stabbed in September 2018.

Presidential Spokesman General Otávio Barros told a news conference Mourão, a former army general, would act as president for five days starting on Sunday.

Chief Surgeon Antônio Macedo told reporters he expects Bolsonaro to be able to travel from São Paulo to the capital Brasília in a week to 10 days. An incisional hernia is a protrusion of tissue that forms at the site of a healing surgical scar.

Bolsonaro, 64, wrote on Twitter on Saturday night before the surgery: “I remain confident for the next surgery. May God bless us. Good night.” He tweeted after taking part in festivities to mark Brazil's 197th Independence Day in Brasília.

Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, the man accused of attacking Bolsonaro, was acquitted after a judge in Minas Gerais ruled he was mentally ill. In a decision handed down in June, the court ordered his detention in a mental illness facility for an undetermined period of time.