Brazil's Lula Undergoes Emergency Brain Surgery Following October Fall 

Far-left Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva underwent emergency surgery last night to drain a brain bleed connected to a fall in October, the government wrote in a statement on Tuesday morning. 

Lula's office released a statement on X, indicating the president "visited the Hospital Sírio-Libanês in Brasília last night (December 9) for imaging tests after experiencing a headache." 

"The magnetic resonance imaging revealed intracranial hemorrhage, resulting from a domestic accident that occurred on October 19," the office said. 

He was then immediately transferred to Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo unit, where doctors performed a craniotomy to drain the hematoma.

"The surgery proceeded without complications. At this time, the President is doing well, under monitoring in the ICU," the statement concluded. 

#EquipeLula pic.twitter.com/xbmxExIm0z

— Lula (@LulaOficial) December 10, 2024

The hospital attributed the intracranial hemorrhage to a fall he experienced at his home in mid-October, in which he had to cancel his attendance at the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, a city in southwest Russia, and his trip to the APEC summit in Peru.

Lula's emergency surgery coincides with the Brazilian real sliding to record lows. The real fell below six to the US dollar amid fears over the South American country's public finances. The currency has been one of the worst-performing major currencies this year, depreciating by 20%. 

According to Lee Hardman, a senior currency analyst at MUFG, Lula's emergency surgery has the ability to shift Brazil's policy outlook and impact real: "The real has been one of the worst performing currencies this year and that's down to a large part driven by the loss of confidence in the fiscal policies of the current government." 

Doctors say Lula will remain in the ICU for the next 48 hours as a precautionary measure.