Luiz Gushiken

Luiz Gushiken
Luiz Gushiken in 2004
Minister of Social Communication and Strategic Management
In office
1 January 2003  22 July 2005
PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Preceded byBob Vieira da Costa
Succeeded byLuiz Tadeu Rigo
Workers' Party National President
In office
11 December 1988  15 July 1990
Preceded byOlívio Dutra
Succeeded byLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Federal Deputy for São Paulo
In office
1 February 1987  1 February 1999
Personal details
Born(1950-05-08)8 May 1950
Osvaldo Cruz, São Paulo, Brazil
Died13 September 2013(2013-09-13) (aged 63)
São Paulo, Brazil
Political partyPT (1980–2013)
SpouseElizabeth Gushiken
Alma materGetulio Vargas Foundation
ProfessionPolitician, activist

Luiz Gushiken (8 May 1950 – 13 September 2013) was a Brazilian union leader and politician. He was formerly the head of the social communication office of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration, a position which carried a ministerial rank. He was a second-generation Japanese-Brazilian, with Ryukyuan parents from Okinawa.

In his youth he was a supporter of O Trabalho, a party linked to the French Organisation Communiste Internationaliste (OCI). He broke with this international current to work closely with Lula in the PT. He worked at Banespa bank and was associated with unions. He was elected a federal deputy in the Congress three times, from 1987 to 1998, and was the coordinator of the presidential campaigns for Lula in 1989 and 1998.