2014: Venezuela Was Elected to the U.N. Security Council

The UN Security Council has five permanent members (the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain) A negative vote “veto” by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal. The Security Council has ten temporary members that hold their seats on a rotating basis by geographic region. Non-permanent members are elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms. To be approved, a country must receive at least two-thirds of all votes cast for that seat. The Latin America/Caribbean region has two of the seats.

Venezuela had served on the Security Council on four previous occasions (1962-63,1977-79, 1986-87, and 1992-93). In 2006, Venezuela and Guatemala both ran for the Latin America/Caribbean seat. The United States supported Guatemala with an intense lobbying effort and neither Country received the 125 necessary votes in the General Assembly [1].  Venezuela and Guatemala withdrew from the race and endorsed Panama.

In mid-October 2014, the General Assembly was scheduled to hold an election for five of the non-permanent seats. Argentina’s two-years as a Latin America/Caribbean non-permanent member was expiring. In a July 2014 meeting, the 33 UN Ambassadors from Latin American and Caribbean countries voted unanimously to put forward Venezuela as the single candidate for the Latin America/Caribbean seat. [2]   The Absence of a rival candidate from the region meant the chances of Venezuela’s candidacy being derailed were slim.[2]

In the run-up to the vote, editorial boards and members of Congress urged the Obama Administration to win over the 65 nations needed to block Venezuela’s two-year term [3] The Washington Post editorialized “Venezuela doesn’t deserve a Seat on the UN Security Council.”[4] A bipartisan group of Senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to “lead a diplomatic effort at the UN to deny” Venezuela a Security Council seat [5] The State Department did indicate its opposition to Venezuela joining the Council. But no diplomatic press to stop Venezuela materialized [5] U.N.-based diplomats said that the Americans didn’t put up a fight, knowing it was probably unwinnable [6]

The vote was held on October 16, 2014. Venezuela was elected with 181 votes. The US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, criticized the Latin American/Caribbean nations for nominating Venezuela [5] Some Administration critics in Washington complained that President Obama and his diplomatic team didn’t do enough to thwart Venezuela’s election [3] Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that the US should have actively tried to stop Venezuela’s election [ 7]

1. USA Today, Venezuela aims to win U.N. Security Council Seat, September 23, 2014

2. Guardian, Venezuela Winning Backing for UN Security Council Bid, September 11,2014

3. Nation, Venezuela at the UN, Washington at Bay, October 20, 2014

4. Washington Post, Venezuela Doesn’t Deserve a Seat on the U.N. Security Council, September 20, 2014.

5. Christian Science Monitor, Venezuela wins long-coveted- and long denied-UN security council seat, 10/16/ 2014

6. Foreign Policy, Venezuela’s Revenge, October 16, 2014

7. US News and World Report, What Venezuela’s Security Council Seat Means for the US, October 16, 2014

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