Ex-Brazil president Bolsonaro hospitalised

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been hospitalised in Rio Grande do Norte state with abdominal pain, his son Senator Flavio Bolsonaro says in a statement.

The former president interrupted a political event with supporters after feeling "strong" pain and was taken via helicopter to a hospital in the state capital Natal, his political party said in a note.

Bolsonaro is being treated with medication to relieve the pain from an intestinal obstruction, his doctor Antonio Macedo told Reuters.

He will undergo a CT scan and an MRI in Natal to determine whether the case will require surgery, Macedo added.

If surgery is needed, Bolsonaro could also be transferred to Sao Paulo, where he has previously undergone medical procedures related to a stabbing attack in 2018.

Bolsonaro has been in and out of hospitals since the incident at a campaign event before Brazil's 2018 presidential election.

The conservative leader underwent several surgeries during his presidency from 2019-2022.

Bolsonaro was set to start a trip across the northeastern region to promote his party's agenda, eyeing next year's presidential election although he himself is barred from running.

The region traditionally has been a political bastion of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

In March, a panel of Brazil Supreme Court justices accepted charges against Bolsonaro over an alleged attempt to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat and ordered him to stand trial.

The former president was also barred from running for office until 2030 by Brazil's electoral court, for making unfounded claims that voting machines were rigged.

with AP