Panama won a seat on the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday after dozens of rounds of contentious voting ended when Guatemala and Venezuela withdrew their bids. The 48th ballot ended with 164 votes in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly going to Panama, which will start its two-year term on the Security Council in the New Year. The United States had supported Guatemala's bid over that of Venezuela. The split between a U.S. ally and the left-leaning Venezuela venture had left the General Assembly in deadlock. Although Guatemala led Venezuela in all but one of the 47 ballots, it could not reach the two-thirds support needed to win in the General Assembly. The foreign ministers of Guatemala and Venezuela met last week and agreed to withdraw their candidacies in favor of Panama. Panama's U.N. Ambassador Ricardo Alberto Arias has said his country presented its name in a spirit of understanding the different conflicts that there are in the world, especially those caused by cultural and religious differences. Five new members of the Security Council have now been chosen: Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa.
