As for buying submarines...let the jerk buy all he can afford. Each one is a Navy Cross waiting to happen for some deserving USN skipper.
Actually, they lease it. And they don't have any control over the Caribbean approaches to it. I'm not even sure the Chinese would be all that upset about destabilizing the western hemisphere, if they could get a patsy like Hugo to take all the risks.
As for buying submarines...let the jerk buy all he can afford. Each one is a Navy Cross waiting to happen for some deserving USN skipper.
Yeah, they wouldn't stand a chance in a stand up fight, but that's not why ya buy subs.
I'm thinking more in the nature of nation-sponsored terrorism. A single strike against a freighter in the gulf would close down shipping traffic for a month, maybe. And by the time the Navy was on scene, the sub could be sitting back in port in Caracas or Maracaibo, looking innocent. Until the next mission.
The effect on the economy of the hemisphere would be devastating, and it would require a full wartime response.
And don't be too quick to hand out the Navy Crosses to the commanding officers... it could also mean posthumous purple hearts for entire crews of smaller craft like destroyers. And as an ex-sonarman (USN '66-'70), finding and killing a sub is far from a sure thing.
I mean, it would be swell to blow one up, but let's not let our bravado overcome our common sense, or ya might get to visit Davey Jones' Locker.