UN voting resumes
Round 11: Guatemala 107, Venezuela 76, and 8 abstentions. Incidentally, all this can be viewed live at the UN website. They are now moving directly to a new round.
(Update at 1:30 p.m.) Round 14: 108 to 76. From Reuters:
Latin American nations were trying to convene a meeting later in the day in an effort to break the impasse but Venezuela was resisting a withdrawal of its nomination, diplomats said.
Hugo Chávez has to be seriously annoyed. Venezuela drew even at one point yesterday, but now the vote totals are barely changing.
(Update at 2:30 p.m.) Round 16: 108 to 76. Same thing.
I'd put Costa Rica as the front runner for the consensus candidate. South America is already represented by Peru, so there would be regional balance. In addition, Costa Rica is viewed as politically independent from the United States.
4 comments:
Reports of the impending continental reign of Hugo Chavez have been greatly exaggerated.
The funny thing about this is that the press refers to the need to search for a compromise candidate. They already have the compromise candidate - Guatemala! What country in the region could be more innocuous than Guatemala?
I think the key word is "consensus" rather than "compromise." Since some Latin American countries have already voted against Guatemala, it doesn't have a consensus.
I don't agree that they have voted against Guatemala. They've simply folded like lawn chairs due to the pressure of Chavez by voting for Venezuela (but it is not a vote against Guatemala). Do Argentina, Brazil, etc actually have a bone to pick with Guatemala?
Actually, I would disagree--I don't think Chávez has that much leverage. Plus, the vote is secret, so they don't have to vote for Venezuela. The bone to pick with Guatemala is that the U.S. made it a point to twist arms on its behalf, which ultimately taints it.
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