Albequerque Tribune :Nonaligned nations call for U.N. reform to check U.S. veto

Nonaligned nations call for U.N. reform to check U.S. veto

Olga R. Rodriguez | Associated Press | September 16, 2006

HAVANA — World leaders at the Nonaligned Movement summit agreed on the need to make the United Nations more democratic. Raul Castro, sitting in for his ailing older brother, led a chorus of criticism of the United States' veto power in the Security Council.

With Fidel Castro out of sight, Raul presided over Friday's meeting of two-thirds of the world's nations, rallying some of the most outspoken U.S. foes with a speech blaming America for much of the planet's woes.

"When there no longer is a Cold War, the United States spends one billion dollars a year in weapons and soldiers and it squanders a similar amount in commercial publicity," he said. "To think that a social and economic order that has proven unsustainable could be maintained by force is simply an absurd idea."

In speech after speech, leaders of the world's less powerful nations said reforming the U.N. Security Council to balance U.S. veto power should be their key priority.

"The U.S. is turning the security council into a base for imposing its politics," Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, echoing comments by Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus and many others. "Why should people live under the nuclear threat of the U.S.?"

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has been trying to manage a showdown between the United States and Iran over the Islamic country's nuclear program, agreed the Security Council must be more responsive to less powerful countries.

"The Security Council must reform - for the sake of the developing world, and for the sake of the United Nations itself," Annan told the Nonaligned leaders. "The perception of a narrow power-base risks leading to an erosion of the U.N.'s authority and legitimacy - even, some would argue, its neutrality and independence. I have in the past described this as a democracy deficit."

Many leaders say the movement will be much stronger with Cuba in charge, but it was unclear whether the 80-year-old Castro has recovered enough from intestinal surgery to make an appearance at the summit, let alone guide the group during the next three years. The ailing leader was under doctors' orders not to preside over the summit, Cuban officials said.

While Raul had his first opportunity to show his leadership qualities before a large audience, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez repeatedly asserted himself as Castro's natural heir.

With next week's U.N. General Assembly session looming, Chavez and Ahmadinejad called on Nonaligned nations to support Venezuela's bid to win the next rotating spot on the Security Council. The United States, uneasy about Venezuela's close ties to Cuba and Iran, has supported Guatemala's bid.

The Nonaligned Movement was formed during the Cold War to establish a neutral third path in a world divided by the United States and the Soviet Union. With Haiti and St. Kitts joining this week, it now counts 118 member nations.