Video recording from the MIRI Seminar on US confrontation with Venezuela

The Donroe Doctrine: Venezuela and a Rehashing of the Limited Sovereignty Playbook in South America

The seminar was held via Zoom on Friday, January 16, 2026, at 3:00 pm CET.

We are very grateful to the speaker, Dr Fabio Andrés Díaz Pabón (University of Cape Town, SA) and to the moderator Dr Louis Monroy Santander (University of Birmingham, UK).

To all participants, we would like to thank them for their time and attendance. 

Additionally, gratitude is extended to the event organizers, Dr Svetluša Surova and Dr Mirsad Kriještorac , Senior Researchers at MIRI, who are in charge of our Capacity-building and Networking activities.

Video recording from the MIRI Seminar on Current Affairs. The Donroe Doctrine: Venezuela and a Rehashing of the Limited Sovereignty Playbook in South America, 2026

About the Seminar

In this MIRI Seminar on Current Affairs, the US-Venezuela confrontation, especially the current situation in Venezuela after the US capture of the country's president, was discussed. Dr Fabio Andrés Díaz Pabón, Latin American researcher and expert from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, analyzed the Donroe Doctrine and power dilemmas that the recent events have brought to the centre. Further, the seminar focused on the local political and socioeconomic situation in Venezuela, the new U.S. foreign policy approach to the country and the region, and the relationship with neighbouring Colombia. As well as, it was scrutinized what kind of challenges, prospects and alternatives recent events have brought for governance, international relations and democracy in South America, but beyond too. The main aim of this seminar was to provide the MIRI global audience with a nuanced South American perspective on recent developments from the scientist and researcher.

About the Speaker

Dr Fabio Andrés Díaz Pabón is a transdisciplinary applied researcher. In his observations, Dr Pabón integrates insights from multiple disciplines while combining academia and practice, on topics of inequality, sustainability, conflict and development, with regional specializations in Latin America and Africa. Currently, Dr Pabón work as a Senior Researcher at the African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where he coordinates the University Sustainable Development Goals Fellowship program. He is also an Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Political and International Studies at Rhodes University in South Africa. In addition to his academic publications, his analysis has been published by Al Jazeera, Time, The Conversation, and the International Peace Institute Global Observatory, among others.

This seminar was hosted by the Minority Issues Research Institute (MIRI).