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U.N. loses if Venezuela wins seat on Security Council

President Hugo Chávez, whose megalomania seems to rise in direct proportion to Venezuela's oil income, will be fighting for his most coveted prize over the next few weeks: a seat on the U.N. Security Council, where he could grab the biggest headlines around the world.

Will he succeed? And if he does, how will that affect the United Nations, the United States and Latin America?

Before we try to answer these questions, let's look at the facts. As you may know, Venezuela and Guatemala are competing for one of two Latin American non-permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council. The General Assembly will decide the winner in a secret vote on Oct. 16.

If no country wins two-thirds of the vote – 128 out of 192 – the Assembly votes again, until one country emerges with the necessary majority.

Venezuela, backed by Iran, Syria, China and Cuba, says it already has the votes needed to win. Chávez has been crisscrossing the world campaigning for the U.N. seat, offering subsidized oil shipments to Caribbean nations, buying foreign debt bonds from countries such as Argentina and offering other forms of financial assistance to African and Asian countries.

Addressing the General Assembly on Wednesday, Chávez accused the United States of "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world." It's a message that, given the Bush administration's dismal approval ratings abroad, resonates in many U.N. member countries.

At the Movement of Nonaligned Nations summit in Havana last week, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro told reporters that Venezuela already has the explicit support of South America's Mercosur group (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), the Caribbean's 13-country Caricom group, the 22-nation Arab League and most African countries.

Guatemala, backed by the United States, disputes the Venezuelan claims. In a telephone interview, Guatemala's Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal said the race "is pretty even." Guatemala has the backing of Mexico, Colombia, Central American countries and most of Europe, while Asia and Africa are divided, he said.

"If the race is measured on the basis of who has spent the most, Venezuela has already won," Rosenthal said. "What we are offering is a more professional, serious and less confrontational job."

Guatemala supporters say the Central American country would work toward consensus-building, whereas Chávez would campaign for radical causes that would further polarize the United Nations.

In recent days, Chávez has suggested that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were secretly plotted by the Bush administration as an excuse to launch its "war on terrorism," and has called Israel's military offensive against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon "a genocide."

Chávez has also become an enthusiastic backer of Iran's nuclear development program, which Iran says is meant for peaceful purposes. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be wiped from the map and has called for a conference to discuss the Holocaust, which he claims never existed.

I would not be surprised if neither country gets the needed 128 votes, and that the General Assembly – after several unsuccessful votes – moves to pick a compromise candidate. Among the possible choices: Uruguay, Panama or the Dominican Republic, although the three countries are quick to say they are not running, perhaps fearful of losing Venezuelan aid.

If Venezuela succeeds, the biggest loser would not be the United States but the already crisis-ridden United Nations. As one Latin American diplomat told me, with a loose cannon like Chávez on the Security Council, "the big countries will be even more tempted to take their marbles and go somewhere else."

U.N. loses if Venezuela wins seat on Security Council (http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/columns/article_1285867.php)