MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UN Human Rights Council seat seems certain for Chile

In a surprise announcement this week Venezuela said it will not seek a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, thus paving the way for Chile to assume the position. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had been expected to put up a fight to obtain the seat.

Venezuela's decision came as Chilean President Michelle Bachelet continued her busy schedule at the UN's 62nd General Assembly in New York, much of it designed to showcase Chile's credentials for the position. Her agenda, for example, included a Tuesday meeting with international watch-dog organization Human Rights Watch where she underlined her efforts to strengthen Chile's international human rights agenda. "Developing a more just and humane international order is only possible if we have the respect for human being at the center of the debate, a respect that is not dependent on religion, race, sex or social status," said Bachelet. "In Chile we are working towards bettering our internal legal practices while promoting consolidation to human rights issues as a new pillar in the UN system, along side economic and social development, peace and security." Bachelet has been keen to stress Chile's commitments to human rights issues during her U.N. visit through meetings with the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, newly elected French president Nicolás Sarkozy and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero. Bachelet also attended the UN-sponsored World Leaders international climate change conference, a precursor to the UN's next climate meeting in Bali, Indonesia in December, 2007. At that time, the world's nations will discuss the future of the Kyoto Protocol. Thirty-four out of the world's 36 industrial nations have signed the agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption; only USA and Australia have not signed the treaty. Among those at the conference were former US Vice-President and now leading environmentalist Al Gore, former US President Bill Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. U.S. President George W. Bush was absent from the climate conference, choosing instead to send his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California also spoke at the conference, adding more star quality to international effort to bring an end to greenhouse gasses. "The consequences (of climate change) are pressing. It is not important who was responsible in the past; the importance is who will take responsibility in the future. We are in this together," said Schwarzenegger. The Santiago Times