The military parade on the Eixo Rodoviário Sul (Southern Road Axis) began with delay. Juscelino had arrived half an hour late. In truth, it was almost impossible for Juscelino to be on time. Right at the moment when he left the Alvorada Palace to drive towards the Eixo Rodoviário Sul, as he crossed the gate there passed two buses with Gaúchos (Brazilians from Rio Grande do Sul), which were led by Leonel Brizola. The guards had stopped the buses. Only guests of the Alvorada Palace were allowed to cross the gate. Juscelino asked his driver to stop the car, and got out. He stepped into the crowd of people, met with the governor Leonel Brizola, and received many ovations and requests for autographs. Brizola explained to the President that he had intended to show Alvorada Palace to his travelmates, but that it had been difficult. Juscelino responded right away, and smiling: — “This is your home. I am sorry; I can’t stay here to receive you. I have to open a parade, which is supposed to begin now.” And, turning to the governor, he asked: — “Why didn’t you come to have lunch with me?” Brizola replied that he had had an appointment for lunch. He described how he and his travelmates had improvised a picnic on the “Square of the Three Powers” with lunch packets from the airline on which they had flown in from Porto Alegre. — “So, come by tonight.” The President said goodbye to the governor. Juscelino shook the many hands that the surrounding people extended to his. He reached his car only with considerable efforts and slowly left for the parade. However, just a few feet later, he had to stop again. JK noticed the presence of Archbishop D. Vicente Scherer from Rio Grande do Sul state in the large crowd, and left the car to greet him too. It was indeed hardly possible to be on time that day. General Luiz Guedes opened the parade. Standing on his military vehicle, he stopped in front of the official stage. The band of the Brazilian marines, which came marching in just after him, took its place in front of the official stage to fire the troops up with the right rhythm. Aerobatic performances of the Esquadrilha da Fumaça pilots aroused the admiration of the crowd. Cadets from Navy, Army, and Air Force paraded. A group of the CPOR, the Company of Guards of Brasília, a joint military unit of the Air Force and the Battalion of Presidential Guards, marched past too. The military parade, in which 2,000 members of the military had taken part, was followed by two detachments: One detachment came from Rio de Janeiro, and the other from Salvador. Both of them had come on foot from more than 500 miles away. They delivered messages to the President. The detachment from Rio de Janeiro included one hundred Navy fusiliers and twenty marines, who had joined in Belo Horizonte along the long way. A disabled young man in a wheelchair had also come from Rio, and tried to reach Brasilia as homage to President Juscelino Kubitscheck. The detachment had soon integrated this young man and, at that moment on the avenue of the new capital, they presented the joyful young man on his wheelchair as their mascot. The young man came closer to the official stage and Juscelino said: — "Young man! I am moved with your presence at this celebration and I admire your braveness". The young man answered: — "President! What I did is just a drop of water in the ocean compared to all you did!" The military parade was coming to an end and the crowd was trying to get closer to the official stage to ask the President for autographs. Juscelino fulfilled the many requests for autographs with pleasure: He signed magazines, newspapers, invitations, programs, photos, postcards, and even banknotes. After a while, already tired of writing so much, he said: “It’s a pity that I cannot write with my left hand”. As the officer in charge of the parade, General Luiz Guedes stepped in front of the official stage and asked the President for permission to leave the avenue, according to military protocol. However, Juscelino was writing his autographs and didn’t notice. Marshal Denys, some steps away, made a gesture to the general that meant: “Guedes, what can I do?” After the military parade, the Candangos paraded, too. Israel, who left the official stage, stood on a small jeep together with two directors of Novacap, Ernesto Silva and Moacyr Gomes e Souza, and led the parade of the Candangos. 23,000 Candangos marched past trailers of hundreds of trucks from the construction firms for which they worked. No doubt, this was a highlight of the parade. The Candangos were the true heroes of the day. And the public, recognizing that, applauded them enthusiastically. In a gesture of co-fraternization the simple workers paid tribute to the crowd as well, and applauded back. It was a truly marvelous, almost endless parade of a pompous military without weapons that declared the victory of a good battle. At the end of the queue came the tractors, drilling machines, fuel trucks, concrete mixers, the embankment machinery and all the powerful equipment, which had made it possible to build that city in such a short time. The parade was truly unforgettable. However, as the parade had begun later than planned, night had fallen. There was still another ritual to be celebrated: The arrival of the symbolic fire and the lighting of the National Torch in front of the official stage. A lighted torch had left Bahia on March 29, the anniversary of Salvador, the first Brazilian Capital. 3,000 runners had passed it from hand to hand and taken it to Brasília, where it arrived that day. The last runners of this long relay race arrived that day after 7p.m. in the evening. The President had already left. There were no lights on the official stage. So, the torch was contrasting the dark sky. The runner lifted his torch to light the National Torch. After that, he raised his arms, waiting for the flashlight of the few remaining photographers, who had gotten tired after a long working day.