The Santa Maria arrives at Fernando Po

In 1961, something, really, weird happened: A group of Portuguese and Spanish political exiles, led by Henrique Galvão, hijacked the Portuguese ship Santa Maria. The plan was to take the Spanish island of Fernando Po, which is, now Bioko, in Equatorial Guinea, and, then, attack Luanda, which would be the starting point to overthrow Salazar and Franco. However, they were caught by the US, Royal and Dutch navies and forced to stop at Brazil, where they surrendered the ship, and, in exchange, received, political, asylum. However, they had been able to escape the US and Royal navies for several days. What if they had managed to arrive at Fernando Po? I don't believe, that, they, ever, had any chance of success, but I'm curious as to what would have happened if they had managed to arrive at Fernando Po.
 
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I don't think anyone ever thought this plan could ever work. It was quixotic, and, if they weren't thinking of surrendering, suicidal. The true purpose of the assault was always to shame the Spanish and Portuguese regimes and to turn public opinion against them, both domestically and abroad.

If they had arrived at Fernando Pó and maybe even tried to take on Luanda they would ultimately have been forced to surrender to Spanish or Portuguese forces, which means they would all end up in prison instead of exile.

A more successful assault on the Santa Maria would hurt the image of the Portuguese and Spanish regimes. With the Estado Novo seeming more fragile, there is a chance that more officers may join Botelho de Moniz's coup a few months later.
 
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