Kassab, a thorn in Aécio's side.

247 - A skilled negotiator, the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, has proven to be one of the country's leading political strategists. He's almost like a politician from Minas Gerais in São Paulo, capable of balancing various political projects.

In an interview with journalist Merval Pereira, from Globo, he explained how he managed to simultaneously demonstrate "loyalty" to José Serra, from the PSDB party, in São Paulo, and to President Dilma Rousseff, in Minas Gerais, without abandoning his support for another project: that of Eduardo Campos, from Pernambuco, of the PSB party.

Their moves have created an unusual situation. In the municipal election considered the most important, that of Belo Horizonte, Dilma and Serra will be working together against Aécio Neves, the PSDB candidate, who, according to Kassab, "has not shown himself to be a leader with national weight."

Officially, Kassab supports Dilma Rousseff's reelection in 2014. Unless the deteriorating economy opens space for a third option – that of Eduardo Campos – with the support of São Paulo. Read below the interview given to Merval, which was turned into an article:

Kassab and his loyalties - Merval Pereira

The mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, even while insisting that his PSD party is not an auxiliary party of the federal government, made a point of demonstrating his loyalty to President Dilma's reelection project by intervening in the municipal directory of Belo Horizonte.

The interpretation from the Presidential Palace was that Senator Aécio Neves, the likely presidential candidate for the PSDB party, nationalized the municipal campaign by forcing the dissolution of the PT-PSB-PSDB alliance supporting the socialist mayor Marcio Lacerda.

By working to remove the PT from the alliance, the PSDB senator would be marking a position in the state he politically controls, leaving the president isolated with the PT precisely in the capital of the state where he was born.

Kassab didn't hesitate: despite having nothing to do with the dispute, he made a point of intervening to invalidate the decision of the PSD in Belo Horizonte to support Aécio Neves' candidate, demonstrating unconditional support for Dilma's reelection project, even to compensate for the disappointment he caused former president Lula by withdrawing his support for Fernando Haddad's candidacy for mayor in São Paulo "out of loyalty" to José Serra.

It is in this way, balancing between his "loyalties," that Mayor Gilberto Kassab is shaping his political future, clearly identified with the continuity project of the Workers' Party government.

He seeks to downplay the importance of the São Paulo mayoral race, identified as the most symbolically important for former president Lula, saying that Senator Aécio Neves' gesture has transformed the Belo Horizonte race into the most important of the upcoming municipal elections.

He does this partly because he believes Serra will win relatively easily in São Paulo, and that Patrus Ananias, the Workers' Party candidate whom his party has begun to support, has a better chance of winning in Belo Horizonte.

In São Paulo, he believes that candidate Celso Russomano could be an even more difficult opponent than the Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad.

Kassab is not the type of politician to confront disagreements aggressively; quite the opposite. He grants Senator Katia Abreu, one of the leading figures in his party who was outraged by the intervention in Belo Horizonte, the benefit of the doubt, and admits that she was the only party leader, among several he claims to have consulted, to have opposed the decision from the very beginning.

This avoids a dispute and, at the same time, isolates the senator's move, who is already shifting towards the PMDB party.

Kassab is certain that his plan to support Dilma Rousseff's reelection will not be derailed by his reaffirmed loyalty to José Serra, who brought him to the São Paulo City Hall and got him elected mayor in the succession.

He is "certain" that Serra will not be a candidate to succeed Dilma, "even if Aécio Neves withdraws." And he is pragmatic about it: "If Aécio withdraws, with the excuse that he needs to strengthen Minas Gerais, his electoral stronghold, it's because it will be difficult to beat Dilma. If it's difficult for him, imagine for Serra, who would once again have to give up completing his term as mayor to embark on this adventure."

According to Kassab, Senator Aécio Neves, from the PSDB party, acted hastily in anticipating a dispute with the Presidential Palace, and may face a surprise in the Belo Horizonte mayoral race.

Even Eduardo Campos' PSB party, which remains allied with the PSDB, would be displeased with Aécio's attitude, which allegedly placed the governor of Pernambuco in opposition to Dilma, against his will, in Belo Horizonte.

The former governor of Minas Gerais, therefore, allegedly wanted to bring Campos to his side in the presidential race, forcing a situation that Campos would have disliked.

Mayor Gilberto Kassab also downplays the dispute with Governor Geraldo Alckmin over control of Serra's candidacy for Mayor of São Paulo, saying that "it's natural" that he has more influence because "the dispute is for the mayor's office, where we have many ongoing projects that will support Serra's election."

He only refers to his administration as that of "Serra-Kassab," and believes his approval ratings in opinion polls are "quite comfortable," since, according to his criteria, which differ from those of the Datafolha poll, the 30% rating that considers it "average" works in his favor: "I've always thought that whoever says a government is 'average' isn't criticizing it."

He assures that he will not be a candidate for governor of São Paulo in the succession of Alckmin and, on the contrary, will support him, but this statement should not be taken literally, as it is the only option available in the current circumstances, being a partner of the São Paulo governor in Serra's campaign for mayor.

In his analysis of the national political landscape, Kassab makes no secret of his Serra supporter origins in São Paulo, assessing that Senator Aécio Neves is playing his initial moves in the presidential race incorrectly.

He says he sees no reason, at least for now, to reconsider his position on supporting Dilma's reelection, since Aécio Neves, the potential PSDB candidate, "has not yet shown himself to be a leader with national weight."

The mayor of São Paulo sees only one risk to Dilma's reelection: the country's economic situation, threatened by internal problems and the international crisis, which has no end in sight.