US working to block Venezuela's Security Council bid

In another sign of the growing animosity between Caracas and Washington, the US is lobbying South American countries in an effort to prevent Venezuela from being named to a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council.

The Los Angeles Times reports the US is concerned that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez could interfere with plans to step up pressure on Iran. Under current UN rules, Latin American countries are entitled to choose the country that would fill the rotating seat for the region. Venezuela has been actively campaigning for the seat.

...the Bush administration is urging Latin American countries to vote for a US ally, Guatemala, instead, warning that the populist government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cannot be trusted on crucial issues such as Iran's nuclear program, given its "disruptive and irresponsible behavior" in international organizations.

Behind the scenes, US officials have been applying pressure, even to close allies, Latin American diplomats say. For example, Washington has agreed to sell F-16 fighter jets to Chile, but are warning that Chilean pilots will not be trained to fly them if the government supports Venezuela's Security Council bid, the diplomats said.

One Latin American delegate interviewed by the Times said that no one in the region wants to choose between the US and Venezuela, but that the US has told countries that "this is a top priority."

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Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported that President Chávez said he would not stop his bid for the UN Security Council seat, despite the pressure from the US. Chávez described it as a "David versus Goliath" issue.

Supporting Washington on the issue also carries consequences for many of the region's politicians, writes Ian Boyne in the Jamaica Gleaner. He says that while all countries in the region seek to strengthen ties with America for economic reasons, "there is no admiration for the US." Supporting Washington on any issue is not a popular stand with the public in most Latin American countries, even those that the US has long considered allies.

The US possesses very little 'soft power', to use the phrase coined by the well-known Harvard scholar Joseph Nye.

Says the January/February issue of the scholarly Foreign Affairs journal in an essay titled 'Is Washington Losing Latin America?': "Anti-Americanism has surged in every country in Latin America. People in the region, rich and poor, resent the Bush administration's aggressive unilateralism and condemn Washington's disregard for international institutions and norms."

The essay goes on to say that "Washington is galled that no government in Latin America has yet been willing to help it challenge Chavez. Even governments closely associated with Washington have sympathy for the Venezuelan leader's anti-Bush, anti-American polemics."

An editorial in the Stabroek News of Guyana indicates that many states in the region have little desire to back either country in the battle, and notes that US strong-arm tactics could prove highly counter-productive in countries like Chile. The commentary cited a Jamaican Gleaner report, which referred to the Chilean newspaper La Tercera as saying Chile was warned by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that it "could fall into a group of losers against US interests" should it support Venezuela's campaign. But Chávez's record in the region is little better, the paper continues.

If it is indeed the case that the US is treating a country like Chile in this fashion, then one can imagine that its dealings with Caricom [Caribbean Community] nations are hardly likely to reflect a greater sophistication of approach. However, it must also be noted that Mr Chavez does not have a reputation for diplomatic subtlety either, and his ambitions in relation to the continent are undoubtedly hegemonic. In the end it has to be asked whether the work of the Security Council would really be advanced by the addition to the debates of the kind of aggressive tone and polemics which often characterize Venezuela's pronouncements. The answer must surely be in the negative.

The Stabroek finally writes that perhaps backing Guatemala makes more sense at this moment, because of Chávez's possible effect on international affairs, and because Guatemala has never been on the Security Council before.

The Venezuelan newspaper El Universal reported Friday that the country's deputy foreign minister Pável Rondón dismissed the announcement by Columbia that it would support the US's candidate by saying that Colombia's foreign policy " has more coincidences with the United States than with Venezuela."

"The fact that we have excellent relations with Colombia does not mean that we should agree with their pro-US policy or that they should agree with our autonomic policy," Rondón told local radio station Unión Radio.

The Associated Press reports that US concern over Venezuela's campaign was increased when Syria announced it would support Caracas's bid. "We are going to collaborate so Venezuela obtains that seat," [Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal] said in a statement following a closed-door meeting with Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel.

Argentina and Brazil have expressed support for Venezuela, while Central American nations are expected to support their neighbor Guatemala. The seat will become available in January. If the region cannot agree on a consensus candidate, the UN General Assembly will take up the issue.

Also...
• In Mogadishu, a new moral code emerges ( Washington Post)
• Venezuelan TV broadcaster's licenses under threat ( El Universal, Venezuela)
• Prosecutors seek death for Saddam Hussein ( Reuters
• Feedback appreciated. E-mail Tom Regan .