Venezuela and Guatemala pull out of contest for UN seat

UNITED NATIONS - Venezuela and Guatemala have agreed in principle to end their contest for a coveted seat on the UN Security Council but have yet to agree on an alternate candidate, diplomats said.

The UN General Assembly resumed repetitive voting on Wednesday, with Guatemala beating Venezuela 109 to 72 - less than the two-thirds need in the 192-member General Assembly.

The Venezuelan and Guatemalan foreign ministers intend to 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, the diplomats said.

Guatemala is backed by the United States for the two-year seat while Venezuela has painted the race as a battle against Washington and its UN ambassador, John Bolton.

The new developments emerged during a meeting of the 35 Latin American and Caribbean UN members, convened after neither Venezuela nor Guatemala was able to win in 35 ballots conducted last week in the General Assembly.

While the two tied in one round, Venezuela trailed Guatemala by more than 20 votes in the 34 others. But Guatemala was never able to attain the required two-thirds majority.

Guatemala and Venezuela are vying for the Latin American Security Council seat that Argentina will vacate on December 31. Peru stays on the council until the end of 2007.

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

"We encouraged them to reach a solution quickly, and we expressed our willingness to go for a consensus," he said. "If they do, our group can then adopt a consensual solution."

Names of particular new candidates did not come up at the closed-door meeting, but Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his ally Bolivia would be a good compromise.

"I and the people of Venezuela would feel worthily represented by comrade (President) Evo Morales and the people of Bolivia, who are a brother nation," Chavez told a women's meeting in Caracas.

But Guatemala's Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal has made clear that Bolivia was unacceptable. Other nations mentioned for the seat have included Uruguay, Paraguay, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Chilean UN Ambassador Heraldo Munoz and other Latin American diplomats said the question of a third candidate should be left to Guatemala and Venezuela.

"Any consensus of the Latin American-Caribbean group is based on the agreement between the two candidates, and that is why the meeting of the candidates' foreign ministers tomorrow is so important," Munoz said.

Chavez has portrayed the contest as a competition with the United States because of open US lobbying for Guatemala, and has boasted of a moral victory in blocking Washington's choice.

Although Venezuela is a major oil supplier to the United States, ties have deteriorated, particularly since Chavez described Washington as his No 1 enemy and called President Bush "the devil" in a General Assembly speech in September. Diplomats said that had cost him votes.

- REUTERS