Certain UN speeches have acquired iconic status in history: Khrushchev banging his shoe on the table, Adlai Stevenson’s revelation of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
But this year’s General Assembly address by Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez in which he called George W. Bush the devil may be remembered not as the moment that cemented his rise to global prominence, but the performance that consigned him to the also-rans of Washington’s opponents.
Late on Wednesday, after 47 rounds of near deadlock, both Guatemala and Venezuela gave up their race to win a two-year term on the 15-member Security Council in favour of Panama.
The outcome is a big blow to Mr Chávez, who claimed to be an independent voice against US hegemony and lobbied furiously against the Washington-backed candidacy of Guatemala.
In as far as Washington’s goal was to block Venezuela, the outcome is a significant US success. “This is certainly a victory for the State Department,” said Paolo Sotero, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
But many UN diplomats think it was not so much that Washington won as that Caracas lost. Even John Bolton, the US ambassador, suggested as much. “The Venezuelans defeated themselves,” he claimed. “President Chávez’s unconscionable speech to the General Assembly . . . was taken by many of the members of the General Assembly to be indicative of how they’d behave on the council. It was an act of podiacide. P-O-D – shooting yourself in the foot. Podiacide.”
Ultimately, diplomats say, the threat of Venezuela turning the UN into a circus cost it the race before voting ever began. “The Chávez speech was not helpful,” said Nana Effah-Apenteng, the Ghanaian ambassador.
That is not to say diplomacy had no effect, and the UN’s corridors were filled with rumours of threats and inducements by both sides.
The only dramatic shift came on the first day, when Venezuela overcame an early Guatemalan lead to draw level. But that was quickly reversed and positions became entrenched, with Guatemala about 25-30 votes ahead.
Diplomats are still debating what the swing meant. Some think that, despite some countries’ desire to obstruct the US, they shied away when it seemed Venezuela might win.
Mr Sotero notes, for example, that despite his ostensible support for Venezuela, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, is increasingly frustrated with Mr Chávez, especially over his role in Bolivia’s nationalisation of its oil and gas industry.
Many also remembered how, last September, Venezuela threatened to sabotage a global summit on UN reform.
“They are just too far out there,” said another UN diplomat. “I would love an independent voice, but not Venezuela. The UN would have become even more of a joke than it is. Had it been Cuba, it would have been a different matter.”
