Colombia has been elected in an uncontested vote as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
Gaining all 186 votes cast, Colombian will join the U.N. body for the 2011-2012 term representing Latin American and the Caribbean.
President Juan Manuel Santos announced Saturday that Colombia would win the seat, which was not contested by any other candidate country in the region.
Colombia’s ambition to sit on the Security Council for the sixth time in the country’s history was opposed by Bolivia, which said that Colombia’s presence on the Security Council would expand the power of the United States, a permanent member of the council. Bolivia was one of five countries that abstained from voting. Venezuela voted in favor of Colombia winning the seat.
The Security Council has five permanent members (Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States) who can veto any resolution, and ten non-permanent members. Five of these rotating seats are changed each year. Colombia replaces Mexico to join Brazil representing the region.
Germany, India and South Africa were also elected as non-permanent members to the council. The final open seat will go to either Canada or Portugal.