With a photo exhibition at the Humboldt Planetarium in Caracas and the planting of a mahogany tree to honor his conservationist message, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Venezuela and the Bolivarian Government commemorated the 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who orbited the Earth on the Vostok 1 spacecraft on April 12, 1961.
The Russian Ambassador to Venezuela, Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov, said it was a “very emotional” event to celebrate the first man orbiting the Earth as Yuri Gagarin, as a Soviet citizen, conveyed a message of peace, universalism, preservation of the environment and life in general, and solidarity among the people on Earth.
Melik-Bagdasarov explained that planting a little tree symbolizes a new, fairer, more prosperous life with values that strengthen the unity of the Venezuelan and Russian peoples.
Likewise, Venezuela’s Ecosocialism Minister Oswaldo Barbera stressed that the event was of great importance to strengthen Russian-Venezuelan relations, and recalled the conquest of space by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, “one of the most important eco-citizens of the world” who encouraged people to look after the Earth, “our spaceship.”
The commemorative event was also attended by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry’s Vice-minister for Europe, Yván Gil.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Russian Federation have upgraded their relation to to a strategic alliance with cooperation agreements in different areas and sharing a vision of a multipolar world.