Already facing criticism for fires tearing through the Amazon rainforest, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro will miss an upcoming summit on the fires because he is having surgery.
BBC News reported that Bolsonaro is scheduled to have his fourth surgery related to when he was stabbed during his presidential campaign last fall. The procedure will take place on Sunday, which means he'll have to begin preparing for it on Friday with a liquid diet.
A regional conference about the Amazon fires and what to do about them is slated for Friday in Colombia.
The BBC noted that more than 80,000 fires have popped up in the Amazon rainforest this year alone.
A lone attacker stabbed Bolsonaro in the abdomen on Sept. 6, 2018, while he was campaigning. The upcoming surgery will treat a hernia that developed in the wake of the three previous surgeries he's had following the attack.
"It is common for a hernia to develop where you have had abdominal surgery," said Leandro Echenique, one of Bolsonaro's doctors.
"This is a surgical correction ... the president is doing very well health-wise."
The Amazon fires became international news during the recent G-7 summit, where French President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue and offered $20 million to help fight the fires.
Bolsonaro took issue with how Macron made the offer and said he would reject it until Macron apologizes for "insults" he made.
"First of all, Macron has to withdraw his insults. He called me a liar," Bolsonaro said. "Before we talk or accept anything from France ... he must withdraw these words then we can talk."
Material from Reuters was used in this report.