NATION NEWS
Battle for UN Security Council seat
Published on: 6/20/06.

AS IT WAS IN 2005 for the election of a new Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), the United States (US) is again facing defeat in its backing this time of a Latin American candidate for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council in October.

Although Chile's former Interior Minister, Jose Miguel Insulza, finally ended up being the consensus choice as OAS Secretary General, largely as a result of solid support from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the United States had earlier waged an intense lobbying campaign to prevent his victory.

Now the government in Santiago, headed by Chile's first-ever woman president, Michelle Bachelet, has been signalling support for Venezuela's bid to become one of the ten non-permanent members of the 15-nation Security Council – in defiance of strong pressures from the US which is openly campaigning for Guatemala.

Washington makes no secret of its opposition to President Hugo Chavez's administration having a representative on the Security Council. The campaign between Venezuela and Guatemala to win support for the UN seat had surfaced also at the recent annual meeting of the OAS in the Dominican Republic.

Both countries are expected to continue their quest for support at the meeting of foreign ministers of the 20-nation Rio Group that gets under way today in Guyana. Foreign ministers of CARICOM have already discussed the rivalry between Venezuela and Guatemala for the UN seat.

Currently, Venezuela is reported to have majority support among Latin American and Caribbean nations but a consensus is, traditionally, the desirable goal to avoid it being referred to the UN General Assembly for a vote.

In its campaign to bloc Venezuela's bid for the UN Security Council seat, the Bush administration had failed to gain the level of support it had sought on the margins of the OAS meeting in Santo Domingo.

A very significant factor in the consideration of either Guatemala or Venezuela for the Security Council seat is the reality that both have historical territorial disputes with neighbouring states – the former with Belize, the latter with Guyana.

At this stage, however, the pendulum is clearly swinging in Venezuela's favour within CARICOM where, if not unanimous, overwhelming majority support could be forthcoming.

It is related to the position of both the Belizean and Guyanese governments in favour of Venezuela's candidature. CARICOM's bloc vote would be crucial in determining the choice to fill the vacancy when Argentina's two-year term ends for the October round.