Deadlocked Venezuela-Guatemala race pauses a bit
By Evelyn Leopold ReutersThursday, October 19, 2006; 4:26 PM
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Venezuela and Guatemala's marathon contest for an open U.N. Security Council seat is expected to pause for at least five days in hopes Latin American nations can resolve the impasse, diplomats said on Thursday. After three days and 30 rounds of balloting, Guatemala still led Venezuela by 20 to 30 votes on Thursday. But neither country has achieved the required two-thirds majority in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly. At issue is an open Latin American seat in the 15-nation Security Council contested by Guatemala, backed by the Bush administration, and Venezuela, which sees the race as a battle against Washington and its U.N. ambassador, John Bolton. "Mr. Bolton has not been able to keep us out of the race," said Venezuelan U.N. Ambassador Francisco Arias Cardenas. Armed with petrodollars, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has tried to form an alliance with nations in Asia, Africa and the Middle East to challenge Washington's interests. Failure to win a council seat would represent a setback for Chavez's ambitions for a bigger international profile. Several Latin American ambassadors said the voting, which has paralyzed the General Assembly for three days this week, would stop on Friday for other assembly business as well as Monday and Tuesday for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. 'THEATER OF THE ABSURD' Guatemalan Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal said he favored a longer recess and fewer ballots in this "theater of the absurd" but other nations, including Venezuela, disagreed. Rosenthal said that, as long as Venezuela remained in the race, he had no alternative but to continue. Bolton agreed and said, "The honorable thing would be for the candidate who has now lost 28 out of 29 votes to withdraw. Venezuela insists on putting everybody through all this -- vote after vote after vote." Guatemala has never had a seat on the prestigious council, whose decisions on war and peace are mandatory for all U.N. members. Venezuela has served four times. But Ecuador's U.N. ambassador, Diego Cordovez, head of the 32-nation Latin American and Caribbean group, said he did not intend to call a formal meeting unless there was some hint of an agreement in the works. Balloting began on Monday and continued Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, 32 Latin American and Caribbean nations met but did not come up with an agreement. Nor were they able to agree among several compromise candidates mentioned. The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China hold permanent seats on the 15-member Security Council. Ten other nations sit on the council for two-year terms, five elected each year. Guatemala and Venezuela are vying for the Latin American seat that Argentina will vacate on December 31. Peru stays on the council until the end of 2007. 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. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM
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