# Guilherme Boulos

Guilherme Castro Boulos (Portuguese pronunciation:; born 19 June 1982) is a Brazilian politician, activist and writer. He is a member of the National Coordination of Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST). Boulos joined the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) in 2018, and was PSOL's candidate for the presidency of Brazil in the 2018 general election.
In 2020 Boulos was the PSOL nominee for mayor of São Paulo in the 2020 election, qualifying for a second round against PSDB candidate Bruno Covas. Covas defeated Boulos in the run-off. In the 2022 elections, Boulos was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from São Paulo, having received the most votes for federal deputy in the state.
As a member of the Homeless Workers' Movement, Boulos became nationally known in 2003, when he participated in an occupation of Volkswagen's land in São Bernardo do Campo. Closely associated with former President Lula da Silva he has been described as an "heir" to Lula, with his physical likeliness to Lula during his youth being widely noted. He was selected by Time for their Time 100 Next list of emerging leaders worldwide for 2021.

## Early life and career

Guilherme Boulos is the son of Marcos Boulos, a professor of medicine at the University of São Paulo. He is of Lebanese Christian descent, with “Boulos” meaning “Paul” in Arabic. He graduated with a degree in philosophy in 2006 and received a master's degree in mental health in 2017, both from the University of São Paulo. In his youth he engaged in the Union of Communist Youth. He also joined the Homeless Workers' Movement in 2002.
He became famous in 2003 when he participated in the coordination of the invasion of a Volkswagen's ground in São Bernardo do Campo. He appeared again in the press in 2014, in the wake of the social mobilizations around the World Cup, especially the squat called Occupation People's Cup (Portuguese: Ocupação Copa do Povo), organized by the MTST in early May.

## Prison

On 17 January 2017, Boulos was arrested on charges of committing judicial disobedience and incitement to violence during the repossession lawsuit of a plot of land in the district of São Mateus. Later that evening, he was released from prison. In his defense, he claims that his detention was arbitrary and for political reasons.

## Books

* Boulos, Guilherme (2015). De que lado você está? Reflexões sobre a conjuntura política e urbana no Brasil (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Boitempo. ISBN 978-85-7559-440-7.
* Boulos, Guilherme (2014). Por que ocupamos? Uma introdução à luta dos Sem-Teto (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Autonomia Literária. ISBN 9788569536017. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
* Boulos, Guilherme (2014). "O que quer o MTST". Brasil em jogo: o que fica da Copa e das Olimpíadas (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Boitempo. ISBN 978-85-7559-384-4.

## Electoral history

2018 Brazilian presidential election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | PSL | Jair Bolsonaro | 49,277,010 | 46.03 | 57,797,847 | 55.13 |
| | PT | Fernando Haddad | 31,342,051 | 29.28 | 47,040,906 | 44.87 |
| | PDT | Ciro Gomes | 13,344,371 | 12.47 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSDB | Geraldo Alckmin | 5,096,350 | 4.76 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | NOVO | João Amoêdo | 2,679,745 | 2.50 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | Patriota | Benevenuto Daciolo | 1,348,323 | 1.26 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | MDB | Henrique Meirelles | 1,288,950 | 1.20 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | REDE | Marina Silva | 1,069,578 | 1.00 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PODE | Alvaro Dias | 859,601 | 0.80 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSOL | Guilherme Boulos | 617,122 | 0.58 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSTU | Vera Lúcia Salgado | 55,762 | 0.05 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | DC | José Maria Eymael | 41,710 | 0.04 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PPL | João Goulart Filho | 30,176 | 0.03 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 107,050,749 | 100.00 | 104,838,753 | 100.00 |
| Invalid and blank votes | Invalid and blank votes | Invalid and blank votes | 10,313,159 | 8.79 | 11,094,698 | 9.57 |
| | PSL gain from MDB | PSL gain from MDB | PSL gain from MDB | PSL gain from MDB | PSL gain from MDB | PSL gain from MDB |
2020 São Paulo mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | PSDB | Bruno Covas (incumbent) | 1,754,013 | 32.85 | 3,169,121 | 59.38 |
| | PSOL | Guilherme Boulos | 1,080,736 | 20.24 | 2,168,109 | 40.62 |
| | PSB | Márcio França | 728,441 | 13.64 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | Republicanos | Celso Russomanno | 560,666 | 10.50 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | Patriota | Arthur do Val | 522,210 | 9.78 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PT | Jilmar Tatto | 461,666 | 8.65 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSL | Joice Hasselmann | 98,342 | 1.84 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSD | Andrea Matarazzo | 82,743 | 1.55 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | REDE | Marina Helou | 22,073 | 0.41 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PCdoB | Orlando Silva | 12,254 | 0.23 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PRTB | Levy Fidelix | 11,960 | 0.22 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSTU | Vera Lúcia Salgado | 3,052 | 0.06 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PCO | Antonio Carlos | 630 | 0.01 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,338,786 | 100.00 | 5,337,230 | 100.00 |
| Invalid and blank votes | Invalid and blank votes | Invalid and blank votes | 1,015,314 | 15.98 | 880,278 | 14.15 |
| | PSDB hold | PSDB hold | PSDB hold | PSDB hold | PSDB hold | PSDB hold |
2024 São Paulo mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | MDB | Ricardo Nunes (incumbent) | 1,801,139 | 29.49 | | |
| | PSOL | Guilherme Boulos | 1,776,127 | 29.08 | | |
| | PRTB | Pablo Marçal | 1,718,274 | 28.18 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSB | Tabata Amaral | 605,552 | 9.91 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSDB | Datena | 112,344 | 1.84 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | NOVO | Marina Helena | 84,212 | 1.38 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | UP | Ricardo Senese | 5,593 | 0.09 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PSTU | Altino Prazeres | 3,017 | 0.05 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| | PCO | João Pimenta | 960 | 0.02 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 6,108,218 | 100.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Invalid and blank votes | Invalid and blank votes | Invalid and blank votes | 665,369 | 9.82 | 0 | 0.00 |