Already operated on at the beginning of the week, Brazilian President Lula will undergo a second operation to prevent bleeding in the skull

Brazilian President Lula underwent surgery overnight Monday to Tuesday for an “intracranial hemorrhage” following a fall at his home in October. He will undergo a new operation this Thursday morning to prevent any complications to his skull.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 79, will undergo a new operation on Thursday morning to “reduce the risk” of a new hemorrhage near the brain, two days after his emergency operation.

Lula underwent surgery on Tuesday after complaining of severe headaches caused by a hemorrhage in his skull following a fall in October.

This health alert for the leader of Latin America's largest country, less than two years before the next presidential election, has cast doubt on his ability to seek re-election, while no successor stands out to represent the left in the election.

“As part of the therapeutic program, he will undergo additional surgery, with an endovascular procedure (embolization of the middle meningeal artery) tomorrow morning”, indicates the medical bulletin published late Wednesday by the Syrian-Lebanese hospital in Sao Paulo.

Lula's personal physician, Roberto Kalil, explained during a press briefing at the hospital that the operation, estimated to last one hour, was “already planned” and that it aimed to “reduce the risk of future bleeding”.

In concrete terms, it involves inserting a catheter into the femoral artery, a “relatively simple and low-risk” operation.

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The head of state remains “in intensive care”, but he “had a good day, did physiotherapy, market and was visited by family members”, the hospital detailed.

G20 and Mercosur

His condition “has evolved well in the post-operative phase, without complications”, described a first medical bulletin published Wednesday at midday, specifying that he was “lucid” and that he remained “equipped with a drain while awaiting new routine examinations”.

The medical team announced shortly after the operation that the patient would have to stay in intensive care for 48 hours under observation, and that he would not leave the hospital until next week.

On October 19, Lula hit the back of his head in a fall in the bathroom of his official residence. The accident forced him to cancel his trip to Russia for the BRICS summit.

That did not prevent him from having a very busy schedule afterward, hosting the G20 summit, a forum of the world's leading economies, in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19.

Last week, he traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay, for the Mercosur summit, where a free trade agreement with the European Union was announced, which he has been a strong promoter of.

“I will be ready”

On Tuesday, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin replaced Lula for the reception of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Brasilia. But the executive does not seem to be considering officially entrusting Mr. Alckmin with the presidential function during the convalescence of the head of state.

Personalities from the ruling camp have taken turns since Tuesday to deliver reassuring messages about the president's health, including First Lady Rosangela da Silva, known as “Janja”, who is increasingly present in the public sphere.

Already in power from 2003 to 2010, Lula beat far-right President Jair Bolsonaro in the second round in October 2022, at the end of a knife-edge campaign. During the campaign, he had assured that he would not seek re-election in 2026.

But this historic figure of the Latin American left, who often says he wants to “live to 120 years old”, has maintained the vagueness since then.

If “the parties (that support him, editor's note) believe that there is no other candidate to face a person from the extreme right […], obviously I will be ready for the fight”, but “I hope it will not be necessary” and that there will be a “great political change” in Brazil, he affirmed in November on CNN.