Lula da Silva will undergo surgery this Friday in Brasilia for a hip injury that has been bothering him for some years and will have to be away from the Planalto Palace, the workplace of the presidents of Brazil, for a period of no less than three weeks.
Lula, for his part, is prohibited by doctors from traveling abroad for approximately a month and a half, and in the first eight months of his mandate, the Brazilian head of state traveled extensively, visiting no less than 19 countries.
Lula, however, has already guaranteed that he will govern, to the extent possible, from the Palacio da Alvorada, the official residence of the presidents.
In his absence, it is officially up to Geraldo Alckmin, the vice president-elect, to represent the country, but there are rumors that unofficially, Janja da Silva, the first lady, will share the duties, albeit informally.
Media linked to the far right even called her “Vice President Janja” after being included in a delegation of ministers at Lula’s request and after having resolved, alone, a crisis in the Ministry of Racial Equality.
Beyond the political controversies, the surgery will be performed at the Sírio Libanês Hospital in Brazil’s federal capital, is expected to last more than two hours, require general anesthesia and will keep the president out of the hospital until Tuesday.
The operation, the only remedy for the permanent pain in the hip region of Lula, who will turn 78 next month, is called arthroplasty and will replace the head of the president’s femur with an implant.
Source: TSF
