A Venezuela debt with the Brazil Already exceeds R $ 10.3 billion And there is no prospect of discharge. Only interest since the country became defaulting in 2018, more than R $ 2.7 billion.
The most recent figures are official data from the Ministry of Finance, until February 28, 2025 and correspond to the amounts already paid by the Union in compensation to financing banks and accumulated default interest.
However, the value may be much higher. It is estimated that the total liability rotates between US $ 1.7 billion and US $ 2.5 billion, or equivalent to the current quotation (R $ 5.42 on July 4).
Nicolás Maduro’s default involves in the neighboring country, such as subway, shipyards and steelmakers.
The financing was covered by the SCE (Export Credit Insurance), backed by the FGE (Export Guarantee Fund), a mechanism operated by the Union to ensure payment to Brazilian exporters in cases of default of importing countries.
“All resources were disbursed in Brazil, in reais, directly to exporters,” according to the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).
The bank points out that the installments not settled by Venezuela “have already been fully compensated by the SCE” and that the debtor balance was transferred to the Union. The last compensation was paid in June 2025.
The debt of Venezuela dictatorship with Brazil, however, continues to grow. In the first two months of the year alone, the stock increased at R $ 960.78 million.
According to the Ministry of Finance, this occurs both for the non -payment of insurance covered – there were still four installments to win by June, ie this amount can be much higher – as well as the incidence of default interest, which will continue to accumulate until discharge.
Venezuela’s default with Brazil was formal in 2018, and the debt goes back to funding since the early 2000s.
The values were mainly destined to foreign trade and infrastructure operations, with official support from the Brazilian government.
Venezuela does not respond to charges
Of the total, about $ 1.5 billion is directly linked to major works, such as the Caracas subway. With default, the FGE covered payments to the banks, but the invoice fell on the National Treasury.
“The FGE covered most of these payments to BNDES, transferring debt to the Treasury. So, it is not that the fund has supplied the problem, solved the problem with Venezuela. All of us, Brazilian citizens, are paying for this debt,” explains UFF International Relations and Harvard researcher Vitelio Brustolin.
“Venezuela insists on not responding to formal charges, nor response Brazil has. The negotiation is totally suspended,” he adds.
In response to a request for information from Deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) sent to the Ministry of Finance at the beginning of the year, the folder reported that Venezuela has been formally charged by diplomatic pathways and direct communications to the Ministry of the Venezuelan Economy.
“Given the absence of response from Venezuelan counterparts, the collection process was resumed with the periodic collection of the amounts, including interest on default, both by diplomatic and direct communications to the Ministry of the Venezuelan Economy,” the text signed by the Secretary of International Farm Affairs, Tatiana Rosito.
The farm also points out that Venezuelan debts with Brazil have also been reported to multilateral institutions, such as the Paris Club. However, this mechanism is only advisory.
By international law, a country cannot simply forgive debt, but there is a possibility of judicial restructuring of debt. However, the chances of success are limited.
“It will not be easy, because the Venezuelan justice is controlled by the regime [de Nicolás Maduro]. It also has bilateral negotiations and cooperation agreements, such as discussing the investment cooperation and facilitation agreement in 2023 and 2024. But there was no advance. There are diplomatic and legal tools, but the effectiveness of these tools depends on the willingness of Venezuela, which currently opted for silence, ”said Brustolin.
The farm also clarified that there is no established deadline for the payment or renegotiation of the debt.
“The application of the default represents a penalty: the debt value will be increased until the settlement or renegotiation. The resolution of the question depends on the engagement of the counterpart, and it is not possible to estimate a deadline for completion,” says the document.
In addition to Brazil, Venezuela accumulates debts with other international creditors.
According to Brustolin, and more than $ 60 billion to Russia and international bonus holders, many of them with suspended payments since 2017.
There are also regional pending, such as oil supply agreements to Caribbean countries, including Cuba and Haiti.
BNDES stressed that, according to its internal norms, it cannot grant new financing to countries in default.
Already the responsibility for negotiating the recovery of the Union’s external credit is, since the beginning of 2024, under the responsibility of the Secretariat of International Affairs of the Ministry of Finance.
The political relationship between the Brazilian and Venezuelan governments has also undergone changes. In 2023, but the transparency conditions were not met. In response, and dialogue between countries has been interrupted.
Investment forgiveness
In June this year, on a trip to France, President Lula defended the exchange of debt “for the development and issuance of [DES] Special withdrawal rights ”to mobilize“ valuable resources ”in order to protect the oceans.
DES is a mechanism created and administered by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) since 1969, in order to strengthen economies in times of crisis.
It consists of a basket of strong coins (such as dollar, pound and euro). They do not generate debts, but follow payment rules established by the fund.
Last year, Lula also defended the construction of multilateral design for the forgiveness of country debts in exchange for investments in education.
In article published in the newspaper The globethe head of the Brazilian executive and the director general of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, defended “the conversion of debt into investments in education”.
According to their calculations, in 2022, their debt costs of various nations are compared to the annual budget to finance the country. The idea is to make the lowest rent countries be able to sustain their own population.
