Brazil – VP Says Bolsonaro Suffering Skin Condition: ‘He Can’t Wear Pants’

Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourão told the national newspaper O Globo on Wednesday that President Jair Bolsonaro’s prolonged absence from Planalto, the presidential office, is due to a painful skin condition that makes it impossible for him to wear pants.

Bolsonaro has only made one public appearance and visited Planalto twice since October 30, when he narrowly lost reelection to corrupt socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former president himself who was allowed on the ballot after the nation’s top court overturned a more than 20 year prison sentence for allegedly taking bribes while in office. The incumbent Bolsonaro has spent most of his time in the Alvorada palace, the official residence of the president of Brazil, and held his meetings there.

In his two public statements since losing the election – one given in public, one published to his social media networks – Bolsonaro has not conceded or mentioned Lula at all. He has instead used his time to express optimism in the significant gains conservatives made in the Brazilian Congress and to urge his supporters not to engage in violent protests or block roadways.

Thousands of Brazilians nationwide have participated in protests against the election, arguing that the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) should have never allowed Lula to run given his conviction – the STF never contested any of the evidence indicating that Lula used bribe money to buy a luxury beachfront property while president. Protesters have also accused the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the STF offshoot that administers elections, of unfairly censoring information about Lula’s criminal case while allowing Lula to refer openly, and without evidence, to Bolsonaro as a “pedophile.” In addition, Lula’s campaign accused Bolsonaro of, among other outrageous crimes, cannibalism.

Bolsonaro’s health has been a point of concern for years, ever since a socialist assailant attempted to assassinate him during a campaign event in September 2018. The stabbing has resulted in chronic digestive issues that have hospitalized Bolsonaro throughout his presidency.

Mourão did not indicate that his current condition was related to his post-stabbing complications.

“It is a matter of health,” Mourão told O Globo referring to Bolsonaro’s absence from Planalto. “He has a wound on his leg, an erysipelas.”

“He can’t wear pants, what is he supposed to do, go over there wearing shorts?” Mourão asked.

Erysipelas is a form of cellulitis, a bacterial infection that affects the surface of the skin, creating painful rashes over affected areas. As it is bacterial, it is commonly treated with antibiotics and can sometimes cause serious illness.

The disease may explain Bolsonaro’s absence at two major international conferences, the U.N. climate change conference COP27 and the G20 summit. Bolsonaro has not posted any messages on social media, however, or other actions that would not necessarily require a public appearance in pants.

Following the election results on October 30, in which Bolsonaro allegedly lost by little over one percent of the vote, the president opted not to publicly concede or congratulate Lula. After two days of silence, Bolsonaro issued a very brief statement in front of the press simply urging his supporters not to engage in roadblocks to protest Lula. At the time, pro-Bolsonaro truckers had rapidly organized roadblocks on hundreds of sites on major highways demanding a “federal intervention,” a provision in the Brazilian constitution that allows the government, they argued, to undo the results of an unfree and unfair election.

“The current popular movements are the fruit of indignation and a feeling of injustice about how the electoral process happened,” Bolsonaro said. “Peaceful protests will always be welcome, but our methods cannot be those of the left.”

The protests had not abated later that week, so Bolsonaro published a longer statement in a video on social media supporting peaceful protests but again dissuading the use of 18-wheelers to block major highways.

“Brazilians who are protesting for Brazil, I know you are upset, you are sad,” he recognized. “You expected something else. Me too. I am as upset, as sad as you, but we have to keep our heads on straight.”

“You have to respect the right of other people who are moving, in addition to the damage [you are causing] to our economy,” he urged. “I know the economy is important, no? I know that you are giving more importance to other things now. It is legitimate. But I want to make an appeal to you: clear the highways.”

The pro-Bolsonaro protests have continued, escalating this week after a Brazilian military audit concluded that it could not confirm the election results were not tampered with.

“There was a possible security risk in the generation of programs in electronic voting machines due to the occurrence of computers accessing the TSE network during the compilation of the source code,” the Defense Ministry revealed, but added that its investigators had also not found concrete evidence of fraud.

The conservative protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful. The only major incident of violence occurred the week after the election when a driver rammed into a group of peaceful protesters, injuring 17 people, including two children.

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