Thursday, October 26, 2006

UNITED NATIONS, (AFP): The UN deadlocked again Wednesday on choosing between US-backed Guatemala and fierce US critic Venezuela for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council as the rivals hinted at compromise.

After a morning of discussions over whether a new pair of countries could be submitted for the Latin America/Caribbean seat that comes vacant in January, the United Nations General Assembly resumed voting and failed to pick a clear winner in several more votes, taking the total failed polls to near 40.

Guatemala has topped Venezuela in all but one of the votes which began on October 16, but each time failed to come up with the necessary two-thirds of the countries voting to win.

A five-day break to allow talks on the impasse before voting resumed Wednesday appeared fruitless. Members of the UN Latin American and Caribbean Group, known as GRULAC, had sought to find a compromise country for the region's rotating Security Council seat, to be vacated by Argentina on December 31.

In the wake of Wednesday's continued impasse, the foreign ministers of Venezuela and Guatemala were expected to meet Thursday to review their positions and possibly negotiate a consensus candidate, UN diplomats said.

The United States strenuously has fought to block Venezuela's Security Council aspirations, fearing that President Hugo Chavez's leftist government would use the seat to routinely oppose US measures and openly attack Washington.

During an address to the UN General Assembly last month, Chavez called US President George W. Bush a "devil" and said the podium still "smelled of sulphur" a day after the US leader had spoken there.

The Security Council is made up of 15 members, including five veto-wielding permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and 10 non-permanent members, five of which are replaced every year.

The four other member states to assume seats in January were approved without dispute earlier this month.

In the case of Venezuela and Guatemala, though, with UN rules allowing for indefinite voting, the battle could last for some time.

A similar standoff between Colombia and US-opposed Cuba in October 1979 dragged on for more than two months and 154 rounds of voting. It ended in January 1980 with the election of a third candidate, Mexico.

Chavez has admitted that he cannot likely win the fight, though he has claimed success in standing up the "the imperialists", the United States.

"At these levels, it is very difficult to achieve the two-thirds. But what is clear is that we have achieved something which only Cuba has achieved, in the 1970s," he said.

Tuesday Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that Chavez said he would give up his quest for the seat and back Bolivia for it.

But Venezuela's UN ambassador, Francisco Arias Cardenas, suggested Wednesday this was a misunderstanding arising out of exploratory contacts by Venezuela in seeking a solution to the impasse.

Asked about Bolivia's potential candidacy, a US State Department official said Washington's position would remain the same as long as GRULAC has not announced a third candidate.

"Until the GRULAC announces that there is a third candidate, the United States will continue to support Guatemala," said the official, who requested anonymity.

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