Brazil's Bolsonaro still not healthy enough to debate: medical team

By Reuters Staff

A combination of file photos shows Jair Bolsonaro, far-right lawmaker and presidential candidate of the Social Liberal Party (PSL), casts his vote in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 7, 2018 and Fernando Haddad, presidential candidate of Brazil’s leftist Workers Party (PT), attends a rally in Belo Horizonte, Brazil October 5, 2018. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/Washington Alves

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing front-runner in Brazil’s presidential election, is still not healthy enough to take part in debates and other campaign activities as he recovers from a near-fatal stabbing last month, his medical team said on Wednesday.

The announcement means Bolsonaro, who faces leftist Fernando Haddad in an Oct. 28 runoff vote, will likely miss the next presidential debate on Friday.

Bolsonaro’s medical team added that the 63-year-old candidate will be re-evaluated next Thursday and should be cleared for campaigning at that point, but he will need more surgery in December followed by a 15-day recovery period.

Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Paul Simao

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