Fernando Pimentel is getting stronger and stronger for 2014.

Heberth Xavier_247 - The victory of federal deputy Miguel Corrêa Júnior in the internal PT (Workers' Party) dispute in Belo Horizonte is, above all, a victory for the Minister of Development, Fernando Pimentel. From the beginning, Corrêa was the name that the former mayor of the capital wanted to be the PT's vice-mayor candidate on Marcio Lacerda's (PSB) ticket. More than that: the PT federal deputy, who had been a secondary figure since his time in the PPS (Popular Socialist Party), became, especially through his connection with Pimentel, a key political force within the party. He received a very high number of votes as a federal deputy in 2010 and became a crucial player in this year's municipal elections.

Pimentel thus gains another powerful ally in the state. He's become a collector of them. He maintains, for example, a very close relationship with Lacerda himself. There's no shortage of people in the political world who point to the current mayor of Belo Horizonte as the future vice-governor of the state – and guess on whose ticket? Yes, Pimentel's own. He's the Minas Gerais politician with the best rapport with President Dilma Rousseff. The Minister of Development also has a cordial dialogue with the other strongman of Minas Gerais politics, Senator and former Governor Aécio Neves – this relationship was better in the past, but it's far from soured to the point where the two don't talk anymore; on the contrary.

If Lacerda is elected in October, bringing along the Workers' Party vice-mayor, Pimentel will once again firmly establish himself in the Belo Horizonte City Hall. And if Lacerda does what nine out of ten people who study BH politics believe, Pimentel will have a super ally running the city – everything indicates that the PSB mayor will leave office in 2014 to run for state vice-governor or even governor. With that, Miguel Corrêa will assume the position and will have practically two full years to prove himself. Needless to say, in such a scenario, he would already be the favorite for re-election in 2016.

Pimentel knows this and, in his own way, savors the many victories he achieves within the Minas Gerais PT (Workers' Party). Little by little, he undermined the leadership exercised by former mayor and former minister Patrus Ananias – a PT member who was popular and well-regarded by the population, but who gradually lost control over the party's state directorate. Pimentel was also close to the current vice-mayor, Roberto Carvalho, but distanced himself after Carvalho clashed with Mayor Lacerda. He tried to isolate the vice-mayor's group within the PT. He didn't succeed entirely, but enough to carry out his plans in the Minas Gerais capital.

The former mayor of Belo Horizonte and one of Marcio Lacerda's political godfathers is thus paving the road he intends to travel to the Tiradentes Palace in two years. Pimentel has already told friends that he would prefer to remain a minister in a possible second term for Dilma. But, with the succession of good results he has obtained in the PT, his status as the party's candidate to succeed Antonio Anastasia (PSDB) has become almost inevitable.