Law gives institutions their order; history explains how they came to be and what sustains them.
Emilio Berrizbeitia Aristeguieta is a lawyer with more than forty years of practice in litigation, corporate law and human rights, and holds a PhD in Venezuelan History from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. His research covers nineteenth-century Venezuelan political thought, federalism in particular, and relations between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He is an associate researcher at the UCAB Institute for Historical Research and at INESDyC, the diplomatic school of the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He lives in Santo Domingo.
Doctoral thesis · 2026
El federalismo oriental en Venezuela entre 1846 y 1870
Desde los Monagas hasta la Revolución Azul
Approved summa cum laude; the examining committee recommended it for publication.
Recent publications
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Article · History
La cuestión federal durante el proceso separatista de Colombia (1826-1831). Una visión oriental
Caracas: Revista Tiempo y Espacio, vol. 43, no. 82, 2025
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Article · History
Andrés Aurelio Level de Goda y Grimaldo. Monárquico, liberal y federalista. Debates silenciados por la polarización de nuestra independencia
Caracas: Revista Montalbán, no. 65, 2024
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Review · History
Reinaldo Rojas, Cumaná en la formación del Estado nacional venezolano (1515-1811)
Caracas: Revista Montalbán, no. 63, 2024
In progress
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Book · History · In progress
El federalismo oriental en Venezuela, 1846-1870
Book edition of the doctoral thesis, recommended for publication by the examining committee. Title, publisher and date to be confirmed.
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Essay · Law · In progress
Obra jurídica en preparación
Title and scope to be confirmed.
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Research project · History · In progress
Venezuela y la República Dominicana después de 1960. El intercambio político y diplomático entre Acción Democrática y el PRD
Working title. Research as associate researcher at INESDyC.
Beyond the 1960 attempt on Rómulo Betancourt's life and the OAS condemnation of the Trujillo regime, the two countries kept up an intense political and diplomatic exchange, particularly between Acción Democrática and the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Often mentioned, it has been little studied, especially after the Juan Bosch government.
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Research project · History · In progress
Venezuela y la República Dominicana en el siglo XXI. Diplomacia, energía y mediación
Working title. Research as associate researcher at INESDyC.
The diplomatic, energy and political relations between the two countries in the twenty-first century, including mediations and cases involving third countries, documented and analysed as examples of Dominican diplomacy.