Brazil’s Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer days after being convicted of coup

By Michael Rios, CNN

(CNN) — Medical tests on Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro this week showed the presence of an early type of skin cancer, doctors said Wednesday.

According to results from a Sunday procedure to have skin lesions removed, doctors found squamous cell carcinoma, which starts in cells in the middle and outer layers of the skin.

“Two of the lesions tested positive for squamous cell carcinoma, which is neither the kindest nor the most aggressive, but it is still a skin cancer,” Bolsonaro’s doctor Claudio Biroloni said, according to CNN Brasil.

The news comes less than a week after the former president was convicted of plotting a coup d’etat, which prosecutors said included plans to potentially assassinate current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro, 70, was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison. He has denied wrongdoing.

Bolsonaro’s cancer was described as “in situ,” meaning the abnormal cells showed no signs of spread.

The diagnosis will require clinical monitoring and periodic reevaluation, doctors at the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia said.

Bolsonaro was admitted to that hospital a second time on Tuesday due to vomiting, dizziness, low blood pressure and pre-syncope, a feeling like you’re about to faint. He was discharged on Wednesday and continues to be monitored by a doctor.

The far-right politician has previously been hospitalized for pain related to a wound sustained when he was stabbed on the campaign trail seven years ago.

Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, said on X that his father would be all right. “My father has already fought tougher battles and won. This one won’t be any different,” he said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Federico Jofre and Duarte Mendonca contributed to this report.