Panama Wins Seat on U.N. Security Council
By EDITH M. LEDERER, AP
UNITED NATIONS (Nov. 7) – Panama won a seat on the U.N. Security Council on the 48th ballot Tuesday after U.S.-backed Guatemala and Venezuela, led by leftist anti-American President Hugo Chavez, dropped out to end a deadlock.
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.
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.
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