Latin American seat causes controversy at the Security Council
The next members of the UN Security Council are all set, but one seat is still up for grabs – the Latin American position. For the past two weeks, Guatemala and Venezuela have been facing each other off for the job, with neither gaining the requisite two-thirds majority. Guatemala, under a moderate right-wing government, has been planning its candidacy for several years. The United States, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has thrown its support behind Guatemala. In response, Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez, has vowed anyone BUT Guatemala deserves the seat. The candidacy has become yet another showdown between Chavez and the US. The position has been put to vote forty-one times.. and there’s still no resolution. I asked Martin Rodriguez, a journalist from Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre, how many votes Guatemala currently holds.