If there is one idea on which a majority of governments of the world agree, it's the need to expand and change the UN SC, in which only the five major victors of WW2 are permanent members with veto power. That's the main themes that came out of the Non-Aligned Movement summit held in Havana, shortly before the 61st session of the UN GA.
<blockquote>HAVANA -- The need to make the United Nations more democratic is one thing everybody seemed to agree on at the Nonaligned Movement summit, where Raul Castro sat in for his ailing older brother and led many of the world's leaders in harshly criticizing the United States' veto power in the U.N. Security Council.
With Fidel Castro out of sight, Raul presided over the meeting of two-thirds of the world's nations, rallying some of the most outspoken U.S. foes with a speech blaming the U.S. for much of the planet's woes.
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But the top priority for these less powerful nations seems to be balancing U.S. veto power on the U.N. Security Council.
"The U.S. is turning the security council into a base for imposing its politics," Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad complained, echoing comments by Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus and many others. "Why should people live under the nuclear threat of the U.S.?"
North Korea Parliament leader Kim Yong Nam made a similar argument Saturday and said his communist nation "would not need even a single nuclear weapon if there no longer existed a U.S. threat." Mr. Kim added that U.S. insistence on financial sanctions has "driven the situation into an unpredictable phase."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has been trying to manage a showdown between the U.S. and Iran over its enrichment of uranium, agreed with the leaders that the security council must be more responsive to less powerful countries.
"The Security Council must reform -- for the sake of the developing world, and for the sake of the United Nations itself," Mr. Annan told the Nonaligned leaders. "The perception of a narrow power-base risks leading to an erosion of the U.N.'s authority and legitimacy -- even, some would argue, it's neutrality and independence. I have in the past described this as a democracy deficit." ("Countries Call for Security Council Changes at Nonaligned Summit," Associated Press, 16 September 2006, <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115843664889365509.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>)</blockquote>
What would Americans, if asked, say to the idea of expanding the UN SC and giving NAM, OAS, OIC, and other Third-World representatives veto-power-carrying permanent memberships, as Chavez, Ahmadinejad, Lula, etc. variously repeated in their UN GA addresses?
In the meantime, there is a contest between Guatemala and Venezuela. Which would a majority of governments in the world prefer?
<blockquote>With next week's U.N. General Assembly session in New York looming, Messrs. Chavez and Ahmadinejad called on Nonaligned nations to support Venezuela in its campaign against Guatemala for the next rotating Latin America spot on the security council.
Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein denied that his country is a Washington "puppet" in an interview with the Associated Press. He said Guatemala has secured 90 of 128 necessary votes. Venezuela, however, is confident it will win the seat. ("Countries Call for Security Council Changes at Nonaligned Summit," Associated Press, 16 September 2006, <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115843664889365509.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>)</blockquote>
<blockquote>In a series of international tours this year, the Venezuelan leader has secured support for his Security Council seat candidacy from much of Latin America and Africa, along with Russia, China and a large part of the Muslim world.
However, doubts remain as to whether he will obtain the required two-thirds of votes on the first ballot, not least because voting is secret. "Some governments may not be telling the truth," said a European diplomat, "especially among the small Caribbean nations."
Failure to win outright could lead to a protracted series of inconclusive votes, and possibly the emergence of a compromise candidate. (Phil Gunson, "Venezuela Tightens Iran Links with Trade Pacts," 18 September 2006, <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e48e5dee-473a-11db-83df-0000779e2340.html>)</blockquote>
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>