Voting for U.N. Security Council

Venezuela: Fight Is Against 'Owners of the Universe'
Voting for U.N. Security Council seat continues on Oct. 19

Alfredo Ascanio (askain)

Published 2006-10-19 08:56 (KST)

After further voting on Tuesday it has still not been decided whether Guatemala or Venezuela will occupy the fifth seat on the U.N. security council. There have been 22 rounds of votes so far and voting will be continued on Thursday.

There are many who think that this is because Chavez's government has not achieved a consensus in the region.

The proof of the lack of consensus is that many Latin American countries indicated that they would vote for Guatemala. Guatemala's supporters were Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, Bolivia and Cuba are suspected to have voted in favor of Venezuela, jointly with China, Russia, Iran, Belarus, Syria, Lebanon and some African countries. However, it is not possible to know for certain because it was a secret ballot.

Chavez toured the world promising millions of dollars of support to a wide range of countries in an attempt to win support for Venezuela's bid. Bolivia, for example, received US$140 million in loans, scholarships, donations and agricultural machinery.

In the final round of voting on Tuesday, when 120 votes would have been enough for either country to win, Guatemala received 102 and Venezuela 77. Twelve countries abstained, including Ecuador and Chile.

In Venezuela Chavez's followers say that Venezuela received a good share of the vote in each round and "that for the Venezuelan politics is already a triumph."

Guatemala has in fact received more votes than Venezuela in each round.

This it is the second time that a vote for a place on the Security Council has gone into a high number of rounds. During the Cold War in 1979 when Cuba and Colombia were contending for the position, there were 155 rounds of votes over three months. In the end Mexico was elected by consensus.

It was expected that a third Latin-American country would be put forward to break the deadlock, but in meetings on Wednesday no consensus country was found.

Making reference to the United States's extensive support for Guatemala, the Venezuelan ambassador to the U.N., Francisco Arias Cardenas, has said that the fight for the Security Council seat is not against a "brother country" but against "the owners of the universe."

The United States are anxious to ensure that Venezuela does not win the seat because Chavez hopes to use it to extend his international influence. The Venezuelan president has been vocal in his opposition to the U.S. foreign policy.
©2006 OhmyNews

Other articles by reporter Alfredo Ascanio