Guilherme Boulos (C1000x)

Guilherme Castro Boulos (born June 19, 1982) is a Brazilian professor, bachelor of philosophy, psychoanalyst, politician and writer. Affiliated to the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), Boulos is a federal deputy from São Paulo, being recognized as one of the main leaders of the Brazilian left-wing. He was a candidate for president of Brazil, by PSOL, in the general elections in Brazil in 2018 and also ran for mayor of the municipality of São Paulo in the municipal election of São Paulo in 2020. He ran for São Paulo's federal deputy in the general elections of 2022 and was elected with 934,244 votes. Boulos was re-elected in 2026 general elections with 1,503,080 votes.

Guilherme Boulos is the son of a couple of doctors. His mother is the infectologist Maria Ivete Castro Boulos, and his father is Professor Marcos Boulos, from the Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo.

Biography
Boulos graduated in philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences of the University of São Paulo (FFLCH-USP), where he joined in 2000. He specialized in Clinical Psychology at PUC/SP (theme: "The Place of Reason in Psychoanalysis "). He holds a master's degree in psychiatry (2017), from USP's School of Medicine (dissertation: Study on the variation of depressive symptoms related to collective participation in homeless occupations in São Paulo). He was also a professor at the public school system, at the Faculty of Mauá and at the School of Continuing Education at the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo.

Political militancy
In his youth and in his formative years, he became involved in the student movement. In 1997, at the age of 15, he joined the Brazilian student movement as a militant in the Communist Youth Union (UJC). In 2002, he joined the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST).

He became known in 2003, when he participated in the coordination of the occupation of a Volkswagen land in São Bernardo do Campo.

It returned to visibility in the press in 2014, in the wake of social mobilizations around the World Cup, especially the Occupation Copa do Povo, held by MTST in early May. In June of the same year, he became a weekly columnist for the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper website, where he stayed until March 2017.

In February 2015, together with federal deputy Jean Wyllys and journalist Laura Capriglione, he joined the Havana Connection debate program, created and mediated by journalist Leonardo Sakamoto on the UOL portal.

Boulos claims to have been arrested several times, in addition to responding to several lawsuits. His arrest on January 17, 2017, had great repercussions, whose charges were of disobedience to the court order and incitement to violence, during the action of repossession of land in the district of São Mateus. He was released the night of the same day. In his defense, he alleges that his detention was arbitrary and of a political nature.

Candidacy for the presidency in 2018
In March 2018, he joined the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) as a pre-candidate for the Presidency of Brazil, with Sônia Guajajara as deputy. There were controversies regarding his candidacy, especially due to the lack of debate between the candidates and a video recorded by Lula, in which he says that "he would be the last person in the world to ask Boulos not to be a candidate". His candidacy was based on a Socialist Left-wing Front, based on the PSOL, the PCB, the homeless movement and the indigenous movement. With 617,122 votes (0.58%), it came in tenth place in the first round.

Candidate for the mayor of São Paulo in 2020
On March 9, 2020, he announced on social media the formation of a ticket to run for the mayor of São Paulo for the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) in the elections of the same year, with Luiza Erundina as deputy. His announcement was followed by the publication of a manifesto entitled "Boulos and Erundina to change São Paulo". The pre-candidacy was supported by figures from PSOL, such as deputies Ivan Valente, Áurea Carolina, Marcelo Freixo, Edmilson Rodrigues and Talíria Petrone. Boulos disputed the nomination with federal deputy Sâmia Bonfim and with state deputy Carlos Giannazi. Originally scheduled for March 2019, the vote was postponed due to Covid-19. On July 19, Boulos was confirmed as a pre-candidate by the PSOL for the mayor of São Paulo, after receiving 61% of the votes in the party's preliminaries. The plate had the support of the PCB and the Popular Unit.

Boulos received 1,080,736 votes, 20% of valid votes and advanced to the second round, in which he competed against the current mayor, Bruno Covas (PSDB), who reached 32% of the votes, having received 2,168,109 votes, which was not enough to guarantee him the term of Mayor of the City of São Paulo, with the post remaining with Bruno Covas (PSDB).

For the second round, he received support from former candidates Jilmar Tatto (PT), Marina Helou (REDE) and Orlando Silva (PCdoB). The Workers' Party, PDT, PSB, PCdoB and Sustainbility Network made official support for the candidacy of Boulos and Erundina and formalized the Democratic Front for São Paulo. The PSTU defended a critical vote in Boulos. Politicians such as ex-presidents Lula and Dilma Rousseff, Fernando Haddad, ex-mayor of the city, Eduardo Suplicy, councilor most voted in the election, Flávio Dino, governor of the state of Maranhão, Marina Silva and Ciro Gomes also declared support for the PSOL slate.

Stance against Covid-19
Writing for UOL, Felipe Pereira and Nathan Lopes questioned the speeches of Guilherme Boulos and Bruno Covas, who said they would fight the Covid-19 pandemic, but promoted agglomeration during the election campaign.

Federal Deputy (2023-current)
In the 2022 general elections, Boulos ran for federal deputy from São Paulo and was elected with 934,244 votes, being the 1st time that Boulos has been elected to any political office. Meanwhile, Boulos supported Ciro Gomes's candidacy for president of Brazil and declared opposition to President Bolsonaro, in which he was re-elected. When he took office, Boulos presented 34 bills and gained considerable popularity among the Brazilian left-wing and Bolsonaro's opponents. In the 2026 general elections, he was reelected with 1,503,080 votes, one of the most voted federal deputies in Brazil. Boulos declared opposition to Marco Feliciano and supported André Figueiredo.