UNITED NATONS: The election of either Venezuela or Guatemala to the U.N. Security Council remains at an impasse

Venezuela and Guatemala repeatedly failed on Tuesday (October 17, 2006) to get the necessary votes for an open U.N. Security Council seat, prompting calls for a compromise candidate. After 20 rounds of voting on Monday and Tuesday for a Latin American council seat next year, neither Guatemala, backed by the United States, nor Venezuela could obtain a majority vote. Voting continues until a nation reaches the required two-thirds vote in the 192-nation General Assembly or another candidate emerges, which several Latin American countries hope will happen soon. The race has become a battle for influence between the United States and Venezuela, which under President Hugo Chavez has tried to form an alliance in Asia, Africa and the Middle East to challenge Washington's interests. Failure to get onto the U.N. Security Council would represent a set-back for Chavez's ambitions for a bigger international profile. Guatemala's visiting foreign minister, Gert Rosenthal, indicated some willingness to withdraw and support a consensus candidate if the vote did not change, but not immediately. "It's a contest between two Latin American for one vacant seat in the Security Council. Unfortunately, not everybody buys that idea, so we're stuck with the image that we are the proxy of the United States, and there are enough delegations in the hall to probably block our candidature, meaning one-third, but maybe not. That's the reason we're going to persist a little longer and see," Rosenthal said. Venezuela said it would only give up its quest for a Security Council seat if President George W. Bush and his U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, stopped its "extortion" campaign on behalf of rival Guatemala. "We want this to change for the good, that it change so we understand each other on equal terms, so that will of the strong is not imposed on the weak and we have to profoundly thank this nucleus of countries that maintains itself and does not fall under the pressure and more and more people are in agreement that everything be resolved in this centre that should be democratic," Venezuela's UN Ambassador Francisco Javier Cardenas said. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton denied claims that the U.S. was forcing its views on other member states, and said that the U.S. has always encouraged states to vote as they see fit. "That's all that we've ever asked people to do. We have given the reasons why with think Venezuela's candidacy is problematic, and why Guatemala's candidacy has a lot of merit to it, and countries are making up their own minds," he said. The Security Council has 15 seats: five permanent members with veto power -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- and 10 nations serving for two-year terms, five of them elected each year. In other regions, South Africa, Indonesia, Italy and Belgium received the necessary votes on Monday to win two-year terms in the council, beginning on January 1, 2007. They replace Tanzania, Japan, Denmark and Greece. Venezuela and Guatemala are vying for the Latin American seat being vacated by Argentina while Peru stays on the Security Council until the end of 2007 along with the Congo Republic, Ghana, Qatar and Slovakia. Within Latin America, nations have been divided, with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia considered supporters of Venezuela. Mexico, Colombia and most Central American nations have indicated support for Guatemala. Chile has said it was abstaining.

ITN Source | October 18, 2006

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