With no end in sight to the battle between Guatemala and Venezuela over a UN Security Council seat, the UN General Assembly suspended voting in the hope that the two countries could work out a compromise.
Foreign ministers Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala were expected to meet at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday for yet another round of talks to break the deadlock in the 192-nation assembly.
Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Munoz said there was a "strong possibility" that the meeting would produce a compromise.
"In this case I think it'll open the hope that we may arrive at a consensus," Munoz said.
Munoz said the number of votes received by both Guatemala and Venezuela had become "consolidated and frozen" and suggested the Latin American and Caribbean group consider a "political alternative" to the current stalemate, because neither country will obtain the two-third majority to win.
"The shifts (in the ballots) are minimal and the voting will continue to be that way," Munoz said.
The 192-nation assembly resumed voting on Tuesday with the 42nd ballot, in an attempt to fill the remaining Latin American seat on the council, with Guatemala receiving 105 and Venezuela 75 votes, far from the required two-thirds majority vote of 124 to win.
{{/usCountry}}The 192-nation assembly resumed voting on Tuesday with the 42nd ballot, in an attempt to fill the remaining Latin American seat on the council, with Guatemala receiving 105 and Venezuela 75 votes, far from the required two-thirds majority vote of 124 to win.
{{/usCountry}}On the 47th ballot, Guatemala received 101 votes and Venezuela 78.
The winner will take the council seat of Argentina, which will step down on December 31 after a two-year term.