Washington opposes seats for Venezuela and Cuba on UN bodies

Posted on Tue, Apr. 18, 2006

Washington opposes seats for Venezuela and Cuba on U.N. bodies
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON - Washington faces uphill battle against Venezuela and Cuba
in the U.N.

The Bush administration is battling to stop Venezuela and Cuba from
gaining seats in important U.N. posts in a confrontation that has many
Latin American nations caught in the middle, diplomats and analysts say.

Most observers believe Washington faces an uphill battle to keep
Venezuela out of the Security Council and Cuba out of a newly created
U.N. Human Rights Council.

While President Bush is generally disliked abroad, leftist Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro have courted nations
with a strong anti-U.S. discourse and offerings that range from
discounted oil to free eye surgery.

The first showdown will take place May 9, when the 191-member U.N.
General Assembly votes for 47 members of a new Human Rights Council.
Eleven Latin American nations, including Venezuela and Cuba, are vying
for eight spots reserved for the region.

Venezuela also wants to replace Argentina as one of the two Latin
American members on the 15-seat Security Council. That election, to a
two-year term, is expected in October.

''It is consistent with [Chávez's] quest to be a global player,'' said
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank, who noted
that Chávez has supported Iran's nuclear program.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has personally appealed to countries
not to vote for Venezuela, and Washington is making it clear it doesn't
want Cuba or Venezuela in either U.N. agency.

''It's about ensuring that these organs in the U.N. are effective in
upholding the principles of the U.N., and the membership is key,'' said
Ben Chang, a spokesman for the U.S. mission before the United Nations.

The new Human Rights Council replaced the previous Commission on Human
Rights, where countries accused of rights abuses like Cuba, Iran and
Zimbabwe regularly became members and then worked to stop its condemnations.

In March, the United Nations created the new body with tougher
membership requirements and other changes. But the U.S. government,
arguing the reforms did not go far enough, voted against the new council
and then declined to run for a seat.

Many human rights activists and diplomats believe Cuba has a good chance
of winning a seat on the council, thanks to Havana's efficient
diplomatic corps and friendships with other small and poor nations.

Washington, however, would view Cuba's election as a bad sign.

''It would be an unfortunate and sad statement that it's business as
usual,'' said a State Department official, who asked for anonymity to
speak freely on a delicate subject.

The other Latin American countries running for council seats are
Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru,
Ecuador, Nicaragua and Uruguay, according to Human Rights Watch.

Diplomats say Venezuela's bid to join the council is more of a long shot
because the country sharply criticized the resolution that created it.
But its chances are much better at securing a Security Council seat.

Venezuela has been campaigning for months for the post, reaching out to
countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, said Imeria Nuñez de
Odreman, Venezuela's acting ambassador to the United Nations.

Venezuela needs at least two-thirds of the General Assembly votes and to
beat out Guatemala, a U.S.-backed candidate for one of the rotating
seats on the Security Council.

Rice asked Caribbean leaders to support Guatemala's bid when she met
Caribbean Community leaders last month. U.S. and Latin American
diplomats say she is also likely to raise the issue when she meets
Friday with Alejandro Foxley, the foreign minister of Chile.

But most observers say Guatemala, despite U.S. support, has little
chance of winning because it lacks Venezuela's worldwide reach.

Venezuela has 11 embassies in Africa -- a crucial voting bloc -- second
only to Brazil and Cuba. And the Chávez government has aggressively used
its oil wealth to gain more influence on the international stage,
selling crude to Caribbean nations on easy terms, buying billions of
dollars worth of bonds from Argentina and Ecuador and ordering oil
tankers from Brazilian shipyards.

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