Colombia: Venezuela must be 'constructive' at UN
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said Tuesday that he expects Venezuela to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council and hopes the country will play a "constructive" role on the organization's most powerful body.
Venezuela's candidacy won the unanimous endorsement of Latin American and Caribbean countries during a closed-door meeting in New York on July 23. That makes it likely it will muster the two-thirds majority needed to secure the seat representing the region in a secret ballot of 193 member nations at the U.N. General Assembly next month.
The seat would give a high-profile platform for the fiery, anti-U.S. rhetoric of the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro, the political heir of the late Hugo Chavez. Venezuela is almost certain to ally itself with Russia, and against the U.S., on big issues such as Syria and Ukraine.
"I hope they (Venezuela) can maintain a constructive position," Santos said in an interview with The Associated Press in New York, where he is attending the annual General Assembly meeting. "All members of the Security Council should have a constructive position."
http://news.yahoo.com/colombia-venezuela-must-constructive-un-223826348.html
