Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday he was cutting short an official visit to Suriname and Guyana and returning home after his mother died.
"With regret (I learned of) the passing of my dear mother. May God welcome her in his infinite goodness. At this moment I am preparing to return to Brazil," the far-right leader said on Twitter in the early morning hours.
Olinda Bonturi Bolsonaro died at the age of 94. The cause of death was not revealed.
Suriname's President Chandrikapersad Santokhi (R) and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met at the Presidential Palace in Paramaribo on December 20, 2022 Photo: AFP / Jason leysner
She had been hospitalized since Monday in the city of Registro in Sao Paulo, some 56 kilometers (35 miles) from her home town Eldorado, local media reported.
Bolsonaro, 66, is her third of seven children with dentist Percy Geraldo Bolsonaro, who died in 1995.
The Covid-skeptic president received the news on his first international trip of 2022, to Suriname and Guyana.
He visited Paramaribo on Thursday and was to travel to Georgetown on Friday for talks to boost energy cooperation and strengthen bilateral relations, according to the foreign ministry.
