Brazil’s President Temer Spends Weekend in Hospital for Heart Surgery

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – President of Brazil, Michel Temer, returned to his São Paulo home Monday morning after spending the weekend in the hospital following an angioplasty and the implanting two stents due to obstruction in two of his coronary arteries.

“[The President] should return to normal life starting this afternoon,” said Temer’s cardiologist Roberto Kalil Filho during a press conference at Sirio Libanes hospital Monday morning. “We recommend a slightly lighter [workload] week and rest,” said the cardiologist.

The lighter workweek, however, is likely to be difficult for the 77 year old leader, who has been actively campaigning for the approval of the social security reform in Congress. The President has met with many representatives and last week hosted a dinner for lawmakers to urge politicians to approve the government’s reform bill during the first week in December.

President Temer was also said to have been finalizing his cabinet reshuffle, likely to be announced later on this week. The President was forced to choose new cabinet members for some key Administration positions after the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) made it clear that it was leaving the government alliance.

According to political analysts the PSDB is already looking towards the 2018 presidential election and wants to distance its politicians from the highly unpopular Temer Administration. Last week, before the departure of Bruno Araujo from the Ministry of Cities, the PSDB had four of its members as Temer cabinet members.

President Temer’s popularity has been suffering since he took over from impeached President Dilma Rousseff in September of 2016. At the end of September of 2017 the President’s popularity had sunk to three percent, the lowest of any Brazilian President in recent history.