Venezuela, Guatemala seek new candidate at UN

UNITED NATIONS: Venezuela and Guatemala have agreed in principle to end their deadlocked contest for a coveted seat on the U.N. Security Council but differ on an alternative candidate, diplomats said.

After six ballots on Wednesday, 41 in total since last week, Guatemala received between 100 and 109 votes compared to Venezuela's 72 and 84 votes. But Guatemala was not able to get the two-thirds majority in the 192-member General Assembly for the Security Council seat.

The next round of voting is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the interim, the Venezuelan and Guatemalan foreign ministers meet in New York on Thursday to try to agree on a consensus candidate for the seat, one of two earmarked for Latin America on the 15-nation council.

"They accept in principal that they will withdraw their candidacies. But they are not set on a third country," Brazilian Ambassador Ronaldo Moto Sardenberg told reporters.

Guatemala and Venezuela are vying for a two-year seat on the Security Council, the most powerful U.N. body, that will be vacated by Argentina on Dec. 31. Peru stays on the council until the end of 2007.

Guatemala is backed by the United States while Venezuela has painted the race as a battle against Washington and its U.N. ambassador, John Bolton.

"We will not go to the meeting with a knife in our hands," said Venezuela's U.N. Ambassador Francisco Arias Cardenas. "We are looking for a favorable agreement, a dignified one. We want to send a lesson to those countries who try to impose their will on others that this is not the way to go."

The new developments emerged during a meeting of the 35 Latin American and Caribbean U.N. members, whose divisions have held up work in the assembly.

"The pressure is on them now. They cannot possibly leave New York empty-handed," said Mexico's U.N. Ambassador Enrique Berruga.

New York, Thursday, Reuters