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Hot Potato. U.S. Admiral Robert L. Dennison, commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet, radioed an offer of "safe-conduct" to Galvão and his ship. Concerned for the Santa Maria's passengers, Dennison promised not to interfere should Galvão enter a harbor to let them land. Galvão replied that he was willing to negotiate with U.S. authorities aboard the Santa Maria or at a neutral port. So saying, he ordered a radical change in course, veered toward the coast of Brazil.
Brazil reacted as if it had been handed a hot potato. U.S. planes, which had been refueling at Belém and Recife while keeping an eye on the Santa Maria, were suddenly ordered grounded. Trying to keep on the right side of everyone, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry announced that if the Santa Maria entered Brazilian waters she would be returned to her Portuguese owners, but that Galvão and his 70 men could have political asylum.
But Galvão at week's end had still another alternative, and one with dizzying implications. The tiny rock island of Fernando de Noronha lay only a few hundred miles to the south. While the island belongs to Brazil, it has been leased to the U.S. as a missile-tracking station, and its 1,000 residents include U.S. civilian technicians and troops. Should the Santa Maria land her 580 passengers there, Captain Henrique Galvão might possibly sail away again before the U.S. and Brazil can untangle the legal complexities of the situation.