Augusto Cury launches pre-candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic through Avante

At 68 years old and making his election debut, Augusto Cury gained ground in the race for the Presidency and is, at the moment, the best positioned candidate among those trying to break the polarization between Lula (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL). The presidential project now underway had a rehearsal in 2009, by PV, but it did not come to fruition.

A Datafolha survey released on Thursday (3) showed the Avante candidate in third, with 8% of voting intentions, an increase of six points since August. In Quaest released on Wednesday (2), the writer also appeared in third place, with 10% (he had 2% in the previous round, on August 14).

The increase in searches comes along with an increase in numbers on social networks. The sudden increase in followers raised suspicions in opposing campaigns. Cury denies wrongdoing and says there is a "silent revolution" that explains the growing interest in his candidacy. To date, there are no cases in the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) related to the topic. The candidate's Digital Popularity Index (IPD), calculated by Quaest on a scale of 0 to 100, went from 37.8 to 54.5 points.

The Electoral Court allows payment to expand the reach of candidate posts, under rules, but practices such as hiring influencers and the use of fake or automated profiles (bots) to inflate engagement are prohibited.

During a campaign event this Friday (4), in the interior of São Paulo, Cury said he was optimistic. "There is room to rise further in the polls. I have already elected my opponent in the second round: Lula da Silva."

The writer stated that, if elected, he intends to eliminate the possibility of re-election. "A position does not belong to a man, a human being, nor a family. Not to the Bolsonaro family, nor to the Lula da Silva family. Who does every public position belong to? The taxpayer, he is the boss," he declared.

Cury became known as the author of best-selling self-help books, a label he rejects. "This label is small. I have nothing to do with self-help," he told the newspaper O Globo, in 2020.

His best-known book is "The Dream Seller", a novel released in 2008 that became a film eight years later. He graduated in Medicine, worked as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist and also became a businessman. He declared assets of R$242 million to the Electoral Court, distributed among properties, business interests, shares, investment funds, credits and bank balances.

Cury's work as a businessman spread across different sectors. A survey by g1 identified 31 CNPJs linked to the candidate or their family members, including parent companies and branches, active and closed, according to data from the Federal Revenue.

In addition to businesses in the areas of education, professional training, emotional management, book publishing and content production, there are also companies in the fields of agriculture, forestry, real estate, construction and equity. In the Federal Revenue, 23 appeared as active: 17 in São Paulo, 5 in Minas Gerais and one in Piauí.

One of Cury's companies, the Academia de Intelligence Institute, appears in contracts made by public bodies and entities for the writer's lectures. Four records located by g1, between 2010 and 2026, bring together values ​​that total R$222,912.32, without correction for inflation.

Born in Colina, in the interior of São Paulo, Cury is one of six children of Salomão Jorge Cury and Ana Regina Brait Cury. The candidate's father, who died in 2024, was a lawyer, businessman, rural producer and councilor. One of the writer's brothers, Salem Jorge Cury, became a federal judge.

The writer presents himself as an outsider in relation to the other candidates for president, however, politics is not exactly new to his career. In addition to having grown up in a family in which his father served five terms as a councilor in Colina, Cury became closer to this universe 17 years ago. In 2009, he joined the Green Party (PV), which considered launching him as a candidate for president in the following year's elections.

José Luiz Penna, president of PV since 1999, states that the party leadership was responsible for getting closer to the writer. "We were a small party, with little money, and we needed an asset, someone who would attract voters, to be the candidate for President. He signaled that he was interested, but then Sarney Filho invited Marina [Silva] and she was the candidate", said Penna to g1.

The writer was then invited to contribute to the development of a government program for Marina, with special attention to the area of ​​education. Cury was called by the press the "guru" of the former minister, who was already a reader of his books, but rejected this definition. "The way the story came out in the newspapers left me embarrassed. It's not true that I'm Marina's guru. I'm just a friend who supports her," he said in a report published by "Trip" magazine in July 2010.

Former deputy Walter Feldman, who coordinated Marina Silva's presidential campaign in 2014, said he met Cury a few times, who supported the then candidate. He described the writer as “a good guy”, with a “big daddy” look and very concerned about social issues.

At the business level, of the four public contracting records located by g1, the most recent and with the greatest value is from the Federal Accounting Council. In March, the CFC hired the Academia de Intelligence Institute for R$ 110,436.23 to mediate an online lecture by Cury entitled “Leadership and Management of Emotions”, during the CFC/CRCs System Management Seminar.

In 2023, the City of Ourinhos (SP) contracted for R$63,931.81 a lecture entitled “Brilliant Parents, Fascinating Teachers”, presented during the Annual Teaching Seminar. Direct contracting was carried out due to the non-requirement of bidding.

In the opinion of Cury's interlocutors, Avante's invitation was seen by the writer as an opportunity to put into practice ideas that he had already discussed since his first approach to politics. In an interview with Globo last week, Cury stated that he entered the race to “pacify this country” and defined his position as follows: “My mind is capitalist, meritocratic, defends a lean, fiscally responsible State and entrepreneurship. But my heart is a social heart, which listens to human pain."

One of Cury's proposals for health became the target of questions during the campaign. The candidate defends expanding the use of telemedicine in the public health system as a way of relieving the SUS. The proposal, however, drew attention due to a previous connection between the writer and a company that operates in the sector: until 2023, Cury appeared as a partner in the company and was presented as an ambassador for the company.

During an interview with Globo, Cury was asked whether defending the expansion of telemedicine could represent a conflict of interest. The candidate denied this and stated that he no longer maintains a relationship with the company. According to him, previous experience with the service actually helped to show that the technology can be applied efficiently and at low cost.