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Rev. Bras. Polít. Int., 63(1): e004, 2020 Caterina Despite the emergence of an anti-communist regime, Brazil was still interested in maintaining amicable relations with the USSR, proving that the bipolar conflict in and of itself is inadequate to capture the complexities of the international context in 1964. The same can be said for 1961. Moreover, the Cold War in Latin America had gained a clear regional aspect after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. After this event, the possibility of exporting the Caribbean-like revolution to Brazil would gather virtually all the attention of domestic anti-communist political leaders and elites. At the same time, the pursuit of a more independent foreign policy vis-à-vis the U.S. and an autonomous path of economic development attracted an important part of the Brazilian elites and technical bureaucrats whose main goal was the country’s modernization.

From January 1961, during Quadros’ government, interactions between Brazil and the USSR would become frequent. The regional political context greatly favoured a USSR diplomatic offensive in Latin America: Gagarin concluded his historic flight on April 12th, and shortly thereafter a CIA-sponsored operation to seize power in Cuba failed miserably. In the following month, despite some tension with the Kennedy government due to Brazil’s position favouring Cuba’s right to self-determination, Quadros was able to strike an excellent economic deal with the U.S., rescheduling debts and establishing new loans in more favourable terms for Brazil. Besides Cuba, Quadros’ intention to support the admission of China into the UN and the possibility of Brazil strengthening its ties with the Soviet bloc worried American officials.

Nevertheless, the independent line in Brazilian foreign policy would prevail. Also in May, the head of the Latin America Section of the USSR’s Ministry of Culture, Alexander Alexeyev, arrived in Brasilia for a meeting with Quadros. The press in Brazil and the U.S. State Department sought to scrutinize the reasons for the meeting. At the same time, a Brazilian trade mission, led by Paulo Leão de Moura, was in Moscow negotiating with the Soviet government. Besides an increase in Soviet credits, a protocol was signed to establish permanent trade representations in both countries, and a Soviet Industrial Exhibition was planned to be held in Brazil in the first half of 1962 (Caterina 2019). Gagarin in Brazil: reassessing the terms of the Cold War domestic political debate in 1961 3