The U.S. Department of Agriculture will expand a package of credit, trade, export-promotion and capacity-building tools to deepen farm sales to Venezuela as the Trump administration moves to expand ties with the Caracas government and access to food following June’s devastating earthquakes.
The suite of opportunities, promoted by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, includes potentially adding Venezuela to a regional “agribusiness trade mission,” funding exploratory market research, and promoting the sale of U.S. farm products to Venezuelan importers via the GSM-102 Export Credit Guarantee Program, according to a release viewed by The Washington Times.
The new options appear aimed mostly at increasing U.S. agricultural export business with Venezuela after American forces deposed former President Nicolas Maduro in January. President Trump has said previously that Caracas would purchase only American-made farm products with revenue from a potential oil deal.
Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke J. Lindberg said in an interview with The Times that USDA is working to rebuild Venezuela’s standing as a U.S. farm export market.
“We historically have had a long trading relationship with Venezuela,” Mr. Lindberg said. “As Venezuela continues to move in the right direction and show economic momentum, USDA wants to be on the forefront of ensuring that our farmers and ranchers get access to the mouths down there, can help feed folks, put food on their plates, but also build long-standing trading partnerships that I think will benefit both nations in the long run.”
In 2012, U.S. agricultural exports to Venezuela hit $1.7 billion before collapsing under Maduro-era economic controls. Venezuela ranks 33rd among U.S. farm export markets, according to USDA data from 2024.
The GSM-102 program acts as a safety net for American exporters, with USDA effectively guaranteeing repayment even if a buyer defaults — a mechanism that could make investing in a riskier market like Venezuela more attractive to U.S. companies.
The USDA also loosened rules on which foreign financial institutions can back these transactions. Previously, only a select pool of international banks could arrange financing. Now any institution that clears the normal approval process may participate.
Similar credit-guarantee programs have drawn criticism in the past over the risk of leaving American taxpayers exposed if foreign buyers default — a concern that carries particular weight in Venezuela, given the country’s history of hyperinflation and economic instability. Mr. Lindberg pushed back on that framing, insisting the GSM-102 default rate is “exceedingly low.”
To prepare for an influx of U.S. agricultural goods, USDA plans to expand Venezuela’s import capacity by hosting knowledge exchanges and training local regulators through two U.S.-funded fellowship programs.
USDA officials also touted the package as the next step in the administration’s effort to improve conditions on the ground after the earthquakes. It includes a plan to evaluate whether programs such as McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition, Food for Progress, and Food for Peace can deliver food assistance and “agricultural development support” to recovering parts of the country.
Mr. Lindberg confirmed there is no firm timeline for when those programs could be deployed, but said USDA wants to ensure “those program dollars get spent fairly and effectively and to maximum impact.”
He added that while the suite of programs is a single track from USDA, the department is operating in “lockstep” with the State Department’s diplomatic initiatives in Venezuela and has coordinated with top officials to ensure alignment with “broader administration priorities.”
USDA’s new initiatives come on the heels of a landmark oil deal between the U.S. and Venezuela, spearheaded by the State Department and the Pentagon. Under the agreement, announced last month by Mr. Trump, the U.S. maintains operating rights over 17 strategic oil fields accounting for more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. A new private company, North American Blue Energy Partners, will serve as the primary operator.
The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital holds a 35% direct ownership stake in NABEP, and the U.S. maintains a State Department-brokered guarantee to purchase 20% of the output at cost.
The deal gives the U.S. significant influence over Venezuela’s oil reserves and has left open basic questions about the country’s sovereignty as it inches closer to its first elections since Maduro’s ouster. State Department officials have declined to offer a concrete timeline for when elections would take place, citing instability in the country.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, in a televised speech following the deal’s announcement, said $19 from every barrel sold to the U.S. flows back to Venezuela. She insisted the deal does not compromise Caracas’ control over the country’s natural resources.
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