United States fights Venezuela bid for United Nations seat

UNITED NATIONS — The United States is lobbying hard to block Venezuela's bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council, fearful that Hugo Chavez, its fiercely anti-American president, will disrupt the body as it confronts hot issues such as Iran and Sudan.

But interviews with some 15 diplomats of member states reveal substantial wariness about the U.S. effort, with the critics warning it could boomerang against the U.S. choice, Guatemala, when the General Assembly votes in October.

A European diplomat, refusing to be identified further saying he didn't want to anger the Americans, said lobbying against Venezuela would only gain it votes.

Venezuela's U.N. ambassador, Francisco Arias Cardenas, agrees. "We're a smaller nation but nonetheless this campaign that the U.S. has been taking against us works in our favor," he said in an interview. "We now are all over the news."

Washington argues that its campaign is pro-Guatemala, not anti-Venezuela. Venezuela has served four times on the Security Council. Guatemala, emerging from years of brutal U.S.-backed dictatorship, has never had a seat but is a leading contributor of troops to U.N. peacekeeping missions.

Yet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton have singled out Venezuela's candidacy for criticism, and Washington has outlined its objections in a position paper for its ambassadors worldwide to present to their host governments.

The context is critical, it says, because of the important topics the council will likely face next year: suspect nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, peacekeeping in Sudan, and the launch of the Peacebuilding Commission that is meant to help countries make the transition from conflict to peace.

"Unfortunately, Venezuela has shown that it is more concerned with disrupting international events than in working constructively to achieve common goals," said the paper, obtained by The Associated Press.

Ten of the council's 15 seats are filled by the regional groups for two-year stretches. The other five are occupied by its veto-wielding permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Normally, the Latin American group would fill the council seat with its own choice. But this year, because both Guatemala and Venezuela want the seat, the vote will be by secret ballot. That means governments can promise one thing, and vote otherwise. Guatemala and Venezuela both say they have a majority in the 192-state assembly.

Forecasting the vote is tricky and many member states say they have not decided which country to back.