It seems quite likely to me that at some point a vessel of the French Navy would have been in port in French Guiana while carrying nuclear weapons.
Well, under the first protocol to the Treaty (to which France is a party), it would be prohibited from doing this. Of course it’s possible that there were occasions in the past when France violated this prohibition, but I would assume that it would take this obligations rather seriously, to avoid a deterioration of diplomatic relations with Latin American countries for no apparent gain. France’s Force de Frappe is stationed on submarines, which have their home base in Brittany and which are nuclear-powered. There wouldn’t be a need for them to refuel in Guiana during a mission.
@dtilque, like I said, it was late. Thank you for pointing this out.
@What_Exit, from the US’ perspective, I once read a good history book that pointed out that something like 75% of the Earth’s landmass is north of the equator, and 95% of our nuclear targets are similarly north of the Equator. Keeping ground based weapons postured further away than necessary reduces their effectiveness (response time). This doesn’t take into account SLBMs, which by their nature, could be anywhere.
Tripler
Oceans? I wouldn’t consider them ‘South America.’
On nuclear-powered ships, the ‘refueling’ needed is for the ships crew: food, fresh water, etc. You could probably carry enough preserved food (MRE’s, K-rations, etc.) but they aren’t very appetizing, and a bad idea to annoy the crew that way without a good reason.
Also, I know that American aircraft carriers have gone into Japanese ports, despite Japan’s laws prohibiting any nuclear weapons in their territory, and the US said it was complying. The loophole used was that they said the ship only had components – until they were assembled, they weren’t a ‘weapon’.
The US has strategic interests in East Asia that makes a regular naval presence there worthwhile. Which interests in South America would France have that make it worthwhile to send SSBNs on a mission requiring restocking in Guiana?