Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva revealed that a head injury he sustained over the weekend and led him to cancel his presence at the BRICS summit was serious, and doctors will need several days to assess its full impact. Lula, 78, suffered a fall at his residence on Saturday, which caused a head wound requiring stitches and a small brain hemorrhage. Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira is representing Brazil at the summit.
Lula acknowledged the seriousness of the injury in a phone call shared by Workers' Party politician Luiz Caetano: "I'm fine, I had an accident, but it was my own foolishness; it was serious but did not affect any delicate part," said Lula in his first comments since the accident, as reported by El Tiempo. Lula's office later clarified that he was unaware the conversation would be made public.
