Hugo 'A-Go-Go' Chavez, call your office.

The simple-minded bastard child of Fidel Castro and Lillian Hellman learns one of Lenin's first principles of totalitarianism: Voting is fine, as long as you can look over the voters' shoulders.

Chavez Rhetoric Undermining Bid for Security Council

(CNSNews.com) - Some ambassadors to the United Nations who were previously sympathetic to the idea of elevating Venezuela to a seat on the Security Council took advantage of the secret ballot process this week to vote no, according to policy experts on Latin America.

An incendiary speech on the floor of the General Assembly on Sept. 20 in which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil" and equated U.S. policy with "imperialism" translated into a loss of support, said Jeffrey Laurenti, senior fellow of international relations at the Century Foundation (TCF).

It seems governments all over the globe prefer "the devil" to a madman.

"It is striking that Venezuela has been unable to score a lead in a single ballot," Laurenti told Cybercast News Service. Even member states that object to U.S. policy prefer "active engagement" to "endless confrontation" on the Security Council, he said.

For this reason, Laurenti is convinced certain Latin American countries that had made commitments to Chavez ultimately voted against granting Venezuela a seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Countries with left-of-center governments like Brazil, Chile and Argentina all believe they have a stake in the continued utility of the Security Council, and they were greatly unsettled by the rhetoric Chavez used in his speech attacking Bush in such stark terms, Laurenti explained.

"The Chilean diplomats, for example, were very shaken up by the speech," Laurenti said.

With the exception of one round of voting that ended in a tie, Guatemala has held a clear lead over Venezuela in the 22 rounds of voting held on Monday and Tuesday. In the latest round, Guatemala had 102 votes and Venezuela had 77. There were 12 abstentions.

But with both countries shy of the two-thirds majority needed, a third-party candidate might emerge, noted Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA). He named El Salvador, Uruguay and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as possibilities.

Voting is scheduled to resume on Thursday.

The applause that erupted on the floor of the U.N. when Chavez harshly criticized the U.S. - and President Bush in particular - is best ascribed to political posturing as opposed to a genuine embrace, said Steve Johnson, a senior policy analyst for Latin America at the Heritage Foundation.

Clap for show, vote for dough.

"Heads of state and political leaders are looking at Chavez and seeing someone who is not stable," Johnson said. "Chavez thought he had the votes, but following his performance at the U.N., he made other countries reconsider whether Venezuela would be a responsible actor."

Johnson also said overt displays of support such as applause are made by some member states to derive favorable economic benefits such as low-cost oil contracts. The applauding members might also be trying to placate Chavez so he does not stir political turmoil in their own countries."

Yep.

As long as countries have a secret vote, the outcome is unpredictable," Johnson added. "They [the member states] may say they'll vote for Venezuela, but when it comes to crunch time, they simply won't."