Page:Gagarin in Brazil.pdf/9

Rev. Bras. Polít. Int., 63(1): e004, 2020 Caterina Aldo Arantes. In his speech, Gagarin underlined the importance of a closer contact between Brazilian and Soviet students and stated that he was assured that the resumption of relations between the two countries would contribute to the achievement of this objective. He also attended a conference at the Metallurgical Industry Employees Union. The number of people waiting for him (approximately 4,000 at UNE and 3,000 at the Metallurgical Union) and the lack of organization at both events would disturb his arrival and departure. In the evening, he attended a reception at the Ingá Palace, hosted by Rio de Janeiro’s Governor, Celso Peçanha, and had a dinner at the Icaraí Regata Club in Niterói.

The Soviet delegation, alleging tiredness of Gagarin, would alter this frenetic program in Rio. Therefore, a lunch hosted by O Cruzeiro magazine, a visit to the Diário de Notícias, a conference at the Space Research Association, an interview with TV Tupi, his presence at a premiere of a Russian play, and a visit to the Mangueira samba headquarters were suspended. At the headquarters of the Brazilian Press Association (ABI) though, Gagarin would give a press conference. Women’s screams and autograph requests would interrupt the event several times. His departure from the room was again tumultuous.

The arrival in São Paulo would be no different. At Congonhas Airport, the governor of São Paulo and the directors of the Brazilian Institute of Astronautics and Space Sciences (IBACE), Flavio Pereira and Roberto Isnard, were waiting for him. The reception hall of the airport’s Official Pavilion would be overrun and Gagarin would have to exit through a side door under police protection. Some of the people who came to see him tried to keep up with this movement and smashed glass on the way. He was shoved into a waiting car.

The next day, the cosmonaut would meet with Governor Carvalho Pinto at the Palace of Campos Elíseos. When the Governor asked him when a man would land on the moon, Gagarin – though he said it was difficult to set an exact date – estimated that the trip would be ‘within 5 years or less’. The meeting would also feature a tribute to the cosmonaut by the Brazilian Interplanetary Society (SIB) and a letter addressed to the USSR Academy of Sciences from SIB’s president, Thomas Bun, suggesting the establishment of information exchange on aeronautical topics (Ribeiro 2017).

In the evening, Gagarin gave a talk to 3,000 people at Ibirapuera Arena stating that the ‘friendship between Brazil and the Soviet Union’ would be strengthened and developed from that moment on. Mayor Prestes Maia handed him a diploma and the Bandeirante do Cosmos medal Gagarin in Brazil: reassessing the terms of the Cold War domestic political debate in 1961 9