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Venezuela and Guatemala were still deadlocked in their bid for the final non-permanent seat in the Security Council as the UN General Assembly continued voting on Tuesday.

Though US-backed Guatemala won all the 12 rounds on Tuesday, it failed to get the required two-thirds majority. The General Assembly has decided to take a day off from voting on Wednesday to allow Lain American and Caribbean nations time to seek a compromise, with the 23rd ballot scheduled for Thursday morning.

Diplomats here predicted that neither would be able to bridge the gap, noting that the voting smacks of a cold war scenario when candidates, supported by the two superpowers at that time, bogged down the voting for months before both sides withdrew to make way for a compromise candidate.

Venezuela's UN ambassador Francisco Cardenas has complained that the United States pressed other countries to prevent Venezuela from winning its bid for a seat in the 15-nation Security Council.

"We are not competing with a brother country. We are competing with the biggest power on the planet," he said, stressing that his country would not withdraw from the race.

US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton denied pressuring anyone. "We have made our position in a very low-key way. It is motivated by our concern for Venezuela's behavior," he said.

Observers here noted, however, that opposition from the United States constituted a major obstacle to Venezuela's bid. Ambassador Cardenas was quoted as saying that a Venezuelan victory would give small and impoverished nations "an independent voice needed on the Security Council to fight against the power of money."

Analysts said that Washington feared that Venezuela, once elected to the Council, would pose a serious challenge to its domination in the UN, and shatter the US desired consensus in handling many international issues.

In addition, they noted that with the world's most populous Muslim country Indonesia and South Africa, a major player in the Group of 77, already on the Council, Washington would not like to see Venezuela's seat add further to the uncertainty in its dealing with the Council.

Failure among the Latin American and Caribbean nations to reach compromise has also contributed to the deadlock over voting. Lain American states could agree to put forward a new candidate, but only if the existing two agree to step down. But the two countries, each with its own supporters within the group, have so far refused to withdraw from the race.
 
Observers here generally believe that a breakthrough in the current stalemate seems unlikely in the short run unless the situation takes a dramatic turn. It is noteworthy, however, that the United States will intensify its lobbying efforts in the coming days.

During Monday's voting, Venezuela picked up momentum to tie with its rival Guatemala with 93 votes, but it soon dropped to 76. Such dramatic fluctuation indicated the swing of perhaps a whole regional group as a result of strong lobbying efforts, observers noted.

The non-permanent members were elected according to an agreed geographic allocation, which awards two seats to African and Asian countries, two to Western European and other states, and one to Latin America and the Caribbean during this year's round of elections.

Belgium and Italy were the only contenders in the Western European and Other States category, and they received 180 and 186 votes respectively. South Africa, the only candidate in the African group, was elected after picking up 186 votes. In Asia, where there were two contenders, Indonesia received 158 votes and Nepal received 28.

The Council's five other non-permanent members, whose terms end on Dec. 31, 2007, are Congo, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2006)