Doctors “satisfied” with Bolsonaro’s health condition

The latest medical report from doctors states that the health condition of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is “progressing in a satisfactory way” after he was admitted to a Brasília hospital on Wednesday morning with a bowel obstruction. The president was later transferred to a facility in São Paulo, amid suggestions that he may require emergency surgery. Doctors have not indicated when he will be discharged.

The lack of detailed information about Mr. Bolsonaro’s medical condition has given rise to a wealth of speculation, suggesting that the president’s prognosis may be more severe than doctors let on — theories that are fueled further by Mr. Bolsonaro’s track record regarding health matters.

On September 6, 2018, Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in the city of Juiz de Fora. With severe perforations to his intestines, Mr. Bolsonaro lost 2.5 liters of blood, underwent two emergency surgeries, and risked losing his life.

The attack sidelined him for most of the 2018 campaign and brought uncertainty during the early stages of his administration. During his second month in office, doctors found inflammation in Mr. Bolsonaro’s lungs after he checked into a hospital to remove a colostomy bag.

At the time, worrying health reports from doctors contrasted with the optimistic and cheery...