Volkswacht Bodensee - Bolsonaro leaves hospital three weeks after abdominal surgery

Brazil's 70-year-old far-right leader, who has been ordered to stand trial on charges he directed a coup plot to hold on to power, underwent surgery on April 13 to fix an intestinal obstruction stemming from a stabbing attack he suffered during a 2018 campaign rally.

"Thank you, my God, for this miracle," Bolsonaro wrote on X hours before his release. He thanked his doctors and said he was returning home "refreshed."

A smiling Bolsonaro was greeted by cheering supporters when he walked out of the DF Star private clinic.

He said on X that his "next challenge" would be to attend a rally Wednesday in Brasilia.

The politician had spent 17 days in the clinic's intensive-care ward -- following the latest of several surgeries necessitated by the 2018 attack -- before being transferred Wednesday to the inpatient ward.

Brazil's supreme court decided in late March to prosecute Bolsonaro for his role in an alleged coup attempt at the end of his 2019-2022 term.

He stands accused of having led a plot to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after Lula won the 2022 presidential elections.

E.Burkhard--VB