Chavez claims they chased off a submarine during exercises....

Yeah, right.

Hugo Chavez claims the Venezuelan Navy detected a submarine during training exercises and chased it way.  It only was able to slink off due to it's superior speed, Hugo's subs being slow diesels and all.

Let's look at this critically:

1. Hugo's 209's are not ASW platforms (for God's sake, they are almost 40 years old), so they weren't detecting and chasing anyone
2. If he had any ASW platforms (MPA, capable surface ships), which he does not - they would have the legs and speed to attempt to track a detected submarine.

So, there was no submarine here, and no reason to slink away, given the lack of capability.

Know what there was, a piece of flotsam and a self-promoting government.