Both Venezuela and Guatemala withdrew from the race in favor of the compromise candidate. Panama was elected right away by a large majority.
Panama got 164 votes in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly, more than the 120 needed to win a two-year term starting Jan. 1 on the U.N.'s most powerful body. Venezuela got 11 votes, Guatemala 4 votes, and Barbados 1 vote.
The race for the council seat, which began Oct. 16, became highly political because of the U.S. support for Guatemala and Chavez' speech at the General Assembly in September in which he called President Bush "the devil." A number of countries said Chavez' anti-Bush comments hurt Venezuela's chances.
Guatemala led Venezuela in all but one of the 47 ballots, but couldn't muster the two-thirds support needed to win in the General Assembly. The standoff was the third-longest battle for a seat on the Security Council in the U.N.'s 61-year history.
General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, who announced the results, said she was "delighted" that all five new members of the Security Council had now been chosen — Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa.
(T)Hugo Chavez's big mouth most likely cost him that seat, but he won't ever admit that. He'll just blame the US.
