Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to Brasilia on Thursday and his regular duties, after getting the go-ahead from his doctors following emergency head surgery, officials said.”He is already in Brasilia, in the Alvorada (presidential residence), with no public agenda for the moment,” a presidential spokesperson said.The 79-year-old president had been convalescing in Sao Paulo, where he had surgery last week to stop intracranial bleeding that was putting pressure on his brain.Early Thursday, he was seen leaving the Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo wearing a brimmed hat and giving a thumbs-up after getting his doctors’ all-clear to take plane trips. He made no comment to media as he left.A final medical check-up at the facility “was extremely satisfactory — he is well,” Lula’s doctor, Roberto Kalil, told journalists at the hospital.”Quite simply, the hematoma no longer exists,” he said.The doctor added that Lula had been instructed to avoid physical exercise but “obviously he will be able to do normal activities — his cognition is perfect; he can work.”Another of Lula’s doctors, Ana Helena Germoglio, said that Lula went directly from the hospital to Brasilia, where he would spend Christmas.Another medical check-up was arranged for the end of December.Lula had his emergency surgery — which involved drilling through his skull — on December 10, after coming down with a headache a day earlier that a scan identified as bleeding in intracranial membranes.The hemorrhage was linked to a bad fall he suffered on October 19, when he slipped in a bathroom in his presidential residence in Brasilia.After a follow-up procedure in the hospital on December 12 to prevent blood flow to the area, Lula posted an online video showing him walking through a corridor with Kalil.On Sunday, Lula was discharged to continue his convalescence in his private Sao Paulo home, pending Thursday’s final medical authorization to travel.- Health issues -Even with the all-clear, Lula’s health has been the subject of concern over years.He had successful treatment in 2011 for throat cancer, and a hip replacement operation last year.In the weeks following his October fall, which required stitches to his head, the president skipped planned overseas trips. But from mid-November he resumed his active schedule, hosting leaders of the G20 grouping in Rio and attending a regional summit in Uruguay.The succession of problems has cast a shadow over the possibility of Lula running for re-election in Brazil’s next presidential polls, in 2026.Once back in Brasilia, Lula was to participate in a ministerial meeting on Friday.The president’s health scare and recovery comes as his government seeks congressional approval of budget changes that have created unease in the market.The Brazilian currency, the real, has weakened considerably this year, losing more than a quarter of its value. Since late November it has been sharply losing ground against the US dollar. On Thursday it was fetching around 6.15 reais, after having briefly touched 6.30 on Wednesday — a record low for Brazil’s real.The depreciation was expected to continue despite Brazil’s central bank last week raising its key rate to 12.25 percent — its third consecutive hike.Those rate increases, which the bank signaled were likely to continue, are to counter persistently high inflation, which is running at an annualized rate of 4.87 percent, according to the latest data in November.That is well above the bank’s target of three percent, and even above its upper tolerance threshold of 4.5 percent.But other indicators are doing well in the Brazilian economy — Latin America’s largest — with growth expected to exceed three percent this year and unemployment at a 12-year low of 6.2 percent.Nevertheless, investors are worried about the government’s ability to impose fiscal discipline, especially in the face of creeping public expenditure.At the end of November, Brasilia unveiled budget adjustments designed to cut around $11 billion in spending, but they also came with tax breaks for the country’s middle class.Lula’s government is betting the lower tax take for that segment will be offset by higher imposition on high earners — but investors appear unconvinced.
Thu, 19 Dec 2024 17:22:06 GMT
