Reuters says Dilma asked Campos for support for 2014.

By Jeferson Ribeiro

BRASILIA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff, in a conversation with the governor of Pernambuco, Eduardo Campos (PSB), said that she will run for re-election in 2014 and asked for support from her socialist ally, two party sources told Reuters.

The conversation between Dilma and Campos on Monday night was frank, and the president told the governor that she understands the movements of the allied party, the electoral growth of the party, but that this does not interfere with the relationship with the government, according to an account from one of the socialists interviewed by Reuters, who asked for anonymity.

After this preamble, Dilma told her ally that she will run for re-election and would like to continue counting on the support of the PSB, presided over by Campos. This intention of Dilma was confirmed to Reuters by another socialist, who also asked not to be named and spoke with Campos after the meeting with the president.

Since taking office, Dilma has never publicly stated that she would run for reelection, but by saying that she will be a candidate to an ally who could be her opponent, she shows that she has begun to assemble a strategy for reelection. Within the PT, however, the possibility of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attempting to return to the post in 2014 has always remained.

Gilberto Carvalho, the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency and former chief of staff to Lula between 2003 and 2010, has stated that the former president was on the "reserve bench" and could be called upon.

After hearing about Dilma's plans, Campos recalled the PSB's long partnership with the PT and said that, given its electoral growth, it is legitimate for his party to aspire to the possibility of its own power project, according to sources.

"But he was sincere and told the president that the party will remain loyal to the alliance, will help the government face the difficulties, but that they should only discuss 2014 in 2014," said one of the sources interviewed by Reuters.

Upon leaving the meeting at the Planalto Palace, Campos used the same rhetoric of leaving 2014 for 2014 when questioned by journalists, avoiding any discussion of a commitment to an alliance for his reelection.

Campos' name gained traction for the presidential race after the 2012 municipal elections, when the PSB elected more than 440 mayors and took control of five state capitals. Since then, Dilma has met with the governor of Pernambuco at least four times.

Monday's conversation was arranged by the president while she was still on vacation in Bahia, a period during which the two also met.

PMDB's preference

Before his better-than-expected performance in the municipal elections, the socialists were working to get Campos the vice-presidential slot on Dilma's ticket in 2014, taking the position away from the PMDB. This strategy lost momentum after the PSB's performance in the municipal elections and the strengthening of the alliance between the PT and PMDB during the election period.

Within the current alliance, the PMDB remains the preferred partner, limiting the PSB's increased influence in the Workers' Party government. The president has been holding more regular meetings with Vice President Michel Temer and with the President of the Senate, José Sarney (PMDB-AP), a move that may also indicate Dilma's strategy for 2014.

Hours before meeting with Campos, for example, Dilma met with the two PMDB members. Temer reportedly even encouraged the president to stay close to Campos, according to a PMDB member who asked to remain anonymous.

This same PMDB member said, after the conversation between Dilma and Campos, that she has not yet clearly stated her decision to run for reelection against Temer, but that since last year, after the municipal elections, she has expressed the desire that in 2013 the government begin to show results and fill its showcase with a view to 2014.

In those conversations, according to this member of the PMDB party, Dilma did not explicitly state that she would be a candidate.

The prospect of having Campos as an opponent in the 2014 presidential race has already led members of the Workers' Party (PT) to consider an agreement in which the PT would relinquish the top spot on the ticket in 2018, favoring Campos instead.

"I think we're going to have to do some tough negotiating with the PSB about the prospects of staying within the (current) alliance," said a member of the PT's leadership last year, on condition of anonymity.

According to the source, this negotiation would involve the PT's support for Campos in the 2018 presidential election, when President Dilma Rousseff would complete her second term, having been re-elected in 2014.

However, PSB sources interviewed by Reuters did not say whether Dilma made this proposal to Campos during the meeting.