The foreign ministers of Venezuela and U.S.-backed Guatemala on Wednesday appeared close to agreeing on a substitute candidate in the battle for an open Latin American seat on the U.N. Security Council, according to Reuters. Guatemala has led Venezuela by about 25 votes in all but one of the 47 rounds of balloting over five days that began on Oct. 16. But it has fallen short of a required two-thirds majority in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly to secure the seat. The 47th round was conducted on Tuesday. Ecuador's U.N. Ambassador Diego Cordovez, who hosted the talks at his mission, said the "two foreign ministers are convinced" they had to decide on another candidate soon. Asked if this could happen on Wednesday, he told reporters, "Why not?" Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela will ask the U.N. General Assembly to suspend voting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon so they could continue talking and consult with their governments, Cordovez said. Another candidate can only be decided by the two contenders and then approved by the 35-member Latin American and Caribbean group at the United Nations. The group could not agree earlier on one contender. "In our case, we still have not taken a decision to step down," Guatemala's Rosenthal said. But he said "the next step is to agree who that candidate might be." Cordovez said the process was slowed by officials in Caracas and Guatemala City who see the U.N. voting akin to a national election with a chance to capture undecided voters. "That doesn't happen here. The voting yesterday indicated they are stuck within a range of one or two votes," he said. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC The Dominican Republic, which has received some backing from Venezuela as well as the United States, is one alternative mentioned along with Uruguay, Ecuador and Costa Rica, diplomats said. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called the contest a campaign against U.S. dominance over developing nations. 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 George W. Bush "the devil" in a General Assembly speech in September. Diplomats said that had cost him votes. The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China hold permanent seats on the Security Council, the most powerful U.N. body. Ten other nations sit on the council for two-year terms, five elected each year. Guatemala and Venezuela are vying for the Latin American seat that Argentina will vacate on Dec. 31. Peru stays on the council until the end of 2007 along with the Congo Republic, Ghana, Qatar and Slovakia. In other regions South Africa, Indonesia, Italy and Belgium received the necessary votes on Oct. 16 to win two-year terms in the council. They replace Tanzania, Japan, Denmark and Greece.
