Pimentel suffers his first setback in relation to Dilma.
The Minister of Development did not inform the Presidential Palace that he would be attending a Lide meeting in Rome when he left the presidential delegation in Bulgaria; the president does not sympathize with businessman João Doria, who has already raised funds for the PSDB and makes a big deal of his closeness to the PT's power structure.
247 - Of all the ministers in the Esplanade of Ministries, none maintains as close a relationship with President Dilma Rousseff as Fernando Pimentel, the Minister of Development. The two met in their youth in Belo Horizonte, participated in the armed struggle, and have maintained a good relationship after both built successful careers in politics.
For this very reason, Pimentel is always remembered as Dilma's wildcard for any eventuality. Recently, when Guido Mantega considered leaving the Finance Ministry to dedicate himself to his wife's health treatment, as she recovers from cancer, Pimentel was a concrete alternative.
This week, however, he suffered his first setback in his relationship with President Dilma. Not so much because he accepted a ride on a private jet provided by businessman João Doria, owner of Lide, a group of business leaders. What bothered Dilma was the fact that Pimentel went to the meeting without informing President Dilma. The reason? Dilma has no sympathy whatsoever for Doria, which was captured in the article "Minister on the run," published this Saturday by Folha's Painel. According to the article, Pimentel abandoned the delegation in Bulgaria saying he had another commitment in Europe, but did not specify what it was.
Expensive relationship
João Doria is the most successful Brazilian professional in the art of networking. Lide charges its members exorbitant monthly fees and delivers two goods: meetings between executives of large companies and meetings between these same executives and government officials. At their lunches and dinners, everything has its price: including greater or lesser proximity to a particular minister. Sitting at the table of one of them is a rare privilege – and also very expensive.
Dilma's antipathy towards Doria, however, goes back a long way. In 2006, when the then Chief of Staff was campaigning for Lula's reelection, the businessman promoted fundraising lunches and dinners for Geraldo Alckmin. After that, when the Gol plane crash occurred, Doria led the "Cansei" movement, of businessmen indignant about corruption and the air chaos in Brazil. With Dilma's victory, he grew closer to the Workers' Party power structure, and his two biggest allies in Dilma's government are ministers Aloizio Mercadante and José Eduardo Cardozo. Dilma, however, disapproves, because she knows that the participation of her ministers in Lide events generates more value for Doria than for her own government.