COSTA RICA NEWS – Costa Rica supported Venezuela, which on Thursday won a seat in the United Nations Security Council (UN), confirmed the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
On Thursday, the South American country was granted a long-coveted trophy of international standing and placing a persistent thorn in the side of the U.S. on the U.N.’s most influential committee.
“This is a moment of great pride for all of Venezuela,” said President Nicolás Maduro from Caracas. “The world has given us support. We should feel happiness in our hearts that we are a country that is admired and loved.”
Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Manuel Gonzalez, told the Telenoticias journalist Jessica Quesada that “Venezuela was the only candidate in the region and had been unanimously endorsed by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean (Grulac)”.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Rafael Ramirez, said called the vote “resounding victory” for the candidature and said it shows “broad international support” for the “revolution” initiated by Hugo Chavez.
“I think it’s a political win for Maduro. I think it’s largely symbolic,” said Michael Shifter, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. “But I think it will be hard for the country to be influential on the Security Council while it is imploding back at home. There will be some theater from them but I think their impact will be minimal.”
Venezuela received 181 votes from the 193-member assembly. The U.S., China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom make up the Security Council’s permanent members.
An analysis by Adrian Bonilla, published in FLACSO on October 16 and translated to English by Watching America said:
The inclusion of Venezuela in the United Nations Security Council presents at least three elements worthy of reflection. First of all, notwithstanding the economic and political crisis it is enduring, this South American country has the support of virtually all the states of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Second, the ability of the U.S. and its closest Western allies to build a global political consensus around their strategic interests is increasingly weak. Third, the plural and heterogeneous composition of the current Security Council demonstrates the difficulty in thinking of the global order around an image of stable geopolitical blocs.
The election that favored Venezuela was inevitable despite the opposition its government may cause among several powerful international actors. The Venezuelan candidacy was the only one presented from Latin America and the Caribbean. This contrasts with what occurred in 2006 when, in spite of the intense personal activism of Hugo Chávez, the country was not able to obtain the seat that was finally awarded to Panama… click here for the complete article on Watching America
