Politics

The Brazilian Report interviews Guilherme Boulos

Guilherme Boulos 2018 election brazil candidate
Guilherme Boulos.

Born into a middle-class family, Guilherme Boulos became involved with politics around the age of 15. He joined the Communist Youth Union (UJC), a student movement originated in the Brazilian Communist Party. Then, he got closer to the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST), left home, and started his militancy for the democratization of the access to housing in São Paulo.

Before joining the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) and announcing his presidential bid, Mr. Boulos had never held public office. He is a strong figure on the Brazilian left, having gained sympathy from sectors of the Workers’ Party (despite having voiced criticism of Lula’s and Dilma Rousseff’s administrations). But his candidacy is facing a crucial obstacle: a lack of money and structure, which helps to explain his 1 percent in recent opinion polls.

Mr. Boulos sat down with Gustavo Ribeiro and Diogo Rodriguez at his campaign headquarters, in the neighborhood of Pinheiros, São Paulo, for a 25-minute interview. As we were not in our regular studios on Rua Augusta, in São Paulo, audio quality was not optimal at certain points and we apologize for any sound issues.

Here are the main takes of our interview:

The strength of left-leaning candidates

If we look at all the center-right candidates, they are all [President Michel] Temer. They have all supported Temer’s administration. [Congressman Jair] Bolsonaro voted in favor of the labor reform, in favor of freezing investments in healthcare and education for 20 years. His party was the most loyal to Temer in Congress, even more so than the PSDB [the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, of candidate Geraldo Alckmin].

The PSDB is Temer, the mastermind behind the coup. It has a minister in the government until today. When we begin to discuss agendas for Brazil, people will realize that the PSDB represents an agenda that was rejected by the people. The current administration is represented by these “Fifty Shades of Temer,” surely opposition candidacies will grow.

Revoking Temer’s reforms

We will have two main agendas. The first is to revoke the setbacks. On the first day of government, we will present a bill to Congress and Brazilian society to rescind the acts of the Temer’s administration, starting with the federal spending cap, labor reform and the handing out of Brazilian deepwater oil reserves to foreign companies.

With a 20-year spending cap, there is no way of governing for the majority in Brazil. That means draining the entire national wealth to pay interests on public debt. It is to undermine the investment capacity of the Brazilian state and take the economy even further into a hole. [By revoking the spending cap] we will have the conditions to build a positive agenda.

Increase in public investment

No country in the world has overcome crisis without public spending. So, we’re going to create the Levanta, Brasil (Rise, Brazil) plan. It is a set of investments in infrastructure, basic sanitation, housing, health, and education. This, while improving public services, generates employment. By creating employment, it creates income and tackles inequality. This is the way forward.

Where does it come from? We often hear “the Brazilian state is bankrupt, if fiscal deficits accumulate, it has no investment capacity.” Hold on. Let’s come back down to earth. Brazil is not a bankrupt country, it is the eighth-largest economy in the world. The problem is that national resources are severely misallocated. The way to resume an investment policy, such as the Levanta, Brasil program, is to confront privileges.

This alone can solve the...

Don't miss this opportunity!

Interested in staying updated on Brazil and Latin America? Subscribe to start receiving our reports now!