Bolivarian.

This is coolbert:

Courtesy here to Forbes and the tip from Lucius that article by H.I. Sutton

"The Mystery Of The Venezuelan Navy’s Submarines"

The strange case of the missing Venezuelan Navy Type-209 submarines??

"Venezuela currently has two German made Type-209 submarines. Their operational status remains to be ... [??]."

"The Venezuelan Navy, formally the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela, celebrated 60 years of submarine operations on May 4 . . .While the Navy and government congratulated the submarine arm its long service, the submarines [Type-209] themselves are strangely absent. There are serious doubts as to whether any of Venezuela’s submarines [Type-209] are still operational."

OVERDUE FOR REFIT OR REPLACEMENT. SEEMED TO HAVE DISAPPEARED?

The instantaneous reaction [?] in some quarters will be that these two submarines have been pressed into the service of the narco-traffickers. Used to transport in a clandestine massive quantities of drugs and do so on an international scale. 

Submarines of a nature far-beyond the crudely-built semi-submersible only low-profile boats that the narco-traffickers have been known to use?

SO WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE SUBMARINES?

I highly recommend without qualification or reservation the H.I. Sutton Internet web site "Covert Shores". Outstanding!

coolbert.