Chapter 122: That Time We Got a Foreign Loan in South America (3)

TL: Skye

White House.

Oval Office.

Yu-jin and Drump sat facing each other.

A gold-ornamented ceremonial sword lay on the table.

The scabbard bore the flags of San Marcos and the United States engraved side by side, with [FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN TWO GREAT NATIONS] written across it in gold lettering.

Yu-jin lifted the ceremonial sword.

It had a solid heft to it.

This was no mere decoration. It had been crafted finely enough to actually be used.

“I heard you have a fondness for ceremonial swords. Do you like it?”

“I love it. I never imagined I’d receive a treasure like this.”

Yu-jin carefully set the ceremonial sword back down.

“Thank you very much. I’ll treasure it for the rest of my life.”

“Hahaha! It’s nothing. By the way, you read the loan agreement, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I’ve reviewed it.”

Yu-jin nodded.

The American loan to San Marcos totaled $100 billion.

It would not, however, be paid out in a lump sum.

Even for the United States, extending a loan of that size all at once would have been too much.

It would be disbursed in ten annual installments of $10 billion, with a ten-year maturity and an annual interest rate of 2.5%.

In other words, by the time San Marcos received the final $10 billion in the tenth year, it would be time to repay the $10 billion it had received in the first year.

Money coming in while money went back out.

‘If things go wrong, it could turn into a debt treadmill...’

Looked at another way, though, it meant a stable $10 billion would flow into San Marcos every year for ten years.

And San Marcos might be small, but it was still an oil-producing country.

There was absolutely no reason it couldn’t pay the money back.

‘I never thought turning down China’s offer alone would get us treatment like this.’

All Yu-jin had done was reject China’s loan proposal, yet he had never expected the United States to back San Marcos this aggressively.

There was no precedent for the United States lending a developing country $100 billion at a low annual rate of 2.5%.

That showed just how important Drump considered San Marcos.

“Yu-jin.”

“Yes.”

“I went through hell getting this loan through Congress. There was opposition not just from the Democrats, but from plenty of Republicans too. Why lend a tiny Caribbean country $100 billion? Wouldn’t that money be better spent fixing infrastructure at home? I heard that kind of thing for an entire month.”

“...You really went through a great deal.”

“Well, I got it passed in the end. That’s what matters.”

Drump looked Yu-jin straight in the eye.

“So, about that... I have a favor to ask.”

Yu-jin’s instincts went on alert.

‘So this is where we get to the real point.’

Sure enough.

Drump spoke with an awkward expression.

“Could you send a warship to the Strait of Hormuz? Ah, of course, this has nothing to do with the loan. Even if you decide not to deploy anything, the loan will go through no matter what.”

“......”

Yu-jin froze for a moment.

The Strait of Hormuz.

The situation in the Middle East had become extraordinarily volatile there following the airstrikes on Iran.

Drump had been pressuring allied countries to dispatch fleets to the Strait of Hormuz, but most countries were reluctant to participate.

“May I ask why you’re making such a request?”

“I think if San Marcos joins, other countries will follow.”

Drump held up a finger.

“That’s not an easy request.”

“You don’t even need approval from Congress, do you?”

“That... is true. We don’t have a Congress to begin with.”

“Now that I envy.”

Drump laughed heartily, but Yu-jin couldn’t laugh with him.

The proposal had caught him completely off guard.

‘Joining a war... This is way too... extreme, isn’t it?’

Sending a warship to the Strait of Hormuz would mean crossing a point of no return with Iran.

More importantly, there was another, more fundamental problem.

“Mr. President.”

Yu-jin cautiously spoke.

“We don’t actually have anything that could be called a warship.”

Exactly.

The San Marcos Navy owned exactly four coastal patrol boats.

Even those had been so decrepit that early in Yu-jin’s time as Acting President, they wouldn’t even start.

“San Marcos does not have a single vessel capable of making it all the way to the Strait of Hormuz.”

“......”

Yu-jin looked at Drump.

That was just how things were in developing countries.

A brief silence followed.

Drump rested his chin on one hand and thought for a moment before speaking.

“There’s a way.”

“...What?”

“Use part of the loan to purchase decommissioned warships from the U.S. Navy.”

Yu-jin’s eyes widened.

“Even among decommissioned vessels, plenty are still in excellent condition. Two ships would be enough to send to Hormuz.”

Drump counted off on his fingers as he spoke.

“We won’t just give you the ships. We’ll provide operations specialists, instructors, and maintenance expertise too. If necessary, we’ll even send Navy personnel to help operate them. It would effectively upgrade your country’s navy by an entire level. Ah, and you can pay scrap value for the ships. I’d like to give them to you for free, but then I’d have to get congressional approval again. If we charge a token amount, we can process it as a government-to-government transaction.”

“......”

Those were not bad terms.

No, to be perfectly honest, they were incredible terms.

Decommissioned U.S. military vessels were often in as good a condition as the ships developing countries kept in active service.

They were being retired not because their performance was inadequate, but because better, newer models had come along.

If San Marcos accepted those terms, its naval power would grow by leaps and bounds.

But.

Sending its own soldiers to the Strait of Hormuz was another matter entirely.

“Mr. President.”

Yu-jin spoke carefully.

“I fully understand the terms. I’ll also admit that it’s an attractive offer. But... participating in the conflict is another matter. May I return home, discuss it with my government, and give you an answer afterward?”

Drump nodded.

“Of course. Think it over carefully and get back to me.”

Yu-jin gave a wry smile at Drump’s relaxed attitude right to the end.

***

Presidential Palace.

As soon as Isabella received word from Yu-jin about the troop deployment proposal, she convened an emergency Cabinet meeting.

Senior Secretary for Finance Ricardo, Senior Secretary for Industry Aman, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs attending in Sophia’s place since she was in the United States, Senior Secretary for Natural Resources and Tourism Resa, Field Marshal Pedro, SIA Director Lucio, and Bruno Alves, Director of the Homeland Security Agency and the newest Cabinet member, were seated in the Grand Conference Room when the doors opened and Isabella entered.

“......”

She looked a little different than usual.

Every gaze in the room immediately dropped to her waist.

When the officials saw the presidential ceremonial long sword hanging at Isabella’s side, they fell silent.

Wearing that sword meant she was serving as Acting President in Yu-jin’s absence.

In other words, inside this conference room, Isabella’s word was Yu-jin’s word.

The officials straightened in their seats.

Isabella took the seat at the head of the table and spoke.

“His Excellency has received a request from President Drump to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.”

Murmurs swept through the room.

“A troop deployment?”

“To the Strait of Hormuz?”

Isabella explained what Yu-jin had told her.

Purchase of decommissioned U.S. Navy warships.

A price barely above scrap value.

Operations specialists, instructors, and transfer of maintenance expertise.

In return, participation in the Strait of Hormuz Escort Coalition.

Once the explanation was over, opinions divided.

“From a military perspective, this is an opportunity. It’s a golden chance to expand our naval capabilities.”

“The cost of deployment will not be trivial. Ship operating costs, personnel costs, supply costs. We’ll be paying millions, perhaps tens of millions of dollars every year.”

“But acquiring maintenance expertise would give us the foundation to enter the shipbuilding industry. In the long term, it would benefit us.”

“Exactly. Just learning how to operate warships would make this worthwhile!”

“If we were subjected to a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists, it could damage our image as a tourist destination. Our brand as a safe country could be shaken.”

“That is something the SIA will do everything in its power to prevent.”

“The Homeland Security Agency will assist as well.”

“We also need to consider our presence in the international community. Participating in the Hormuz coalition would raise San Marcos’s standing.”

The debate continued.

The advantages and disadvantages were evenly matched.

“The risk is too great.”

“We cannot let this opportunity slip away!”

“What happens if one of our soldiers gets killed?!”

“Wouldn’t it be an honor to give one’s life for His Excellency?!”

“What the hell? Could you say that if it were your own child?!”

Then.

Shing.

The sound of steel sliding free rang through the conference room.

Isabella had drawn her sword.

She swung it with all her strength.

Whoosh!

The blade sliced through the air and skimmed the corner of the table.

Tap.

A severed piece of wood fell to the floor.

The cut was perfectly clean.

The terrifying sword stroke looked like the work of someone who had actually trained in swordsmanship, and the conference room fell silent.

Isabella sheathed the sword and spoke.

“It seems everyone has forgotten something important.”

The officials held their breath.

“His Excellency did not ask for your opinions.”

Isabella’s gaze sharpened.

“He asked how we can make this more beneficial to the nation.”

The frame of the discussion shifted.

The important question was no longer whether they would deploy troops, but what they could gain from doing so.

Isabella sat back down.

“Let’s sort this out one point at a time. First, what happens if we refuse the deployment?”

The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, attending as Sophia’s proxy, answered.

“Our relationship with the United States... or, more precisely, our relationship with Drump, will suffer.”

“What form would that damage take?”

“In the worst-case scenario, the loan scheduled to be disbursed over ten installments could be cut off midway.”

“The cost of refusal is clear, then. What do we gain by agreeing to the deployment?”

This time, Pedro answered.

“Our naval strength will increase dramatically. At present, our entire navy consists of four coastal patrol boats. Frankly, it is embarrassing to even call it a navy.”

Pedro tapped the table with a finger.

“If we can acquire decommissioned American warships, our naval capabilities will grow by leaps and bounds. That, in turn, means San Marcos’s military presence within Latin America will change completely.”

Pedro continued.

“What I want most of all are the instructors and the transfer of maintenance expertise. Those are worth more than the ships themselves. Ships grow old, but expertise remains. If we acquire the U.S. Navy’s maintenance know-how, we’ll establish the foundation for a self-reliant navy.”

Aman raised a hand.

“To add to Field Marshal Pedro’s point, maintenance expertise can be expanded into the civilian sector. If we establish a warship maintenance yard, we can also repair civilian vessels. If a maintenance yard is built at the Port of Libertad, we could service merchant ships and fishing boats traveling through the Caribbean. Eventually, it could become the foundation for entering the shipbuilding industry.”

Lucio spoke.

“I’ll embed several SIA agents with the deployed personnel. The Middle East is a treasure trove of intelligence. If we have one of our ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz, we can build an intelligence network spanning the entire Middle East. It would also help us prevent terrorist threats.”

“Our voice at the UN and other international organizations would change as well. Until now, San Marcos has had almost no presence on the international stage. But if we participate in the Hormuz coalition, that changes.”

Isabella looked around at the officials.

“Then the remaining issue is the soldiers’ safety.”

Pedro answered.

“If we dispatch warships to Hormuz, their mission will likely be to pressure Iran rather than engage in combat. There should be little chance of our soldiers’ safety being seriously threatened. Even if a threat does arise, we can conduct operations with the survival of our personnel as the top priority.”

“How many personnel are we talking about?”

“A warship requires a crew of roughly three hundred. Even accounting for rotation personnel, we can operate one with fewer than five hundred. If we deploy two vessels, that makes one thousand personnel.”

“One thousand.”

Isabella spoke quietly.

“If deploying one thousand people can secure a brighter future for the nation... then there’s no reason we can’t do it.”

The conference room went silent.

Isabella looked around at the officials and asked.

“Good. Let’s report the outcome of this meeting to His Excellency.”

Isabella left the Grand Conference Room.

She stopped in the corridor and looked out the window at the night sky.

“Haaah.”

For a moment, Yu-jin’s face seemed to appear over the full moon hanging in the sky.

*****

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