All the oil money in the world can’t help him now! Chavez pulled out all the stops to get a rotating seat on the United Nation Security Council, all in the name of challenging U.S. imperialism. Oil contracts with China, bond buyouts from Argentina, subsidized energy all over the world. Billions of dollars in political influence flushed down the toilet, being lost to U.S.-backed Guatamala, who never raised a peep during the whole affair.

This is what a real vote looks like — something Chavez hates — so imagine how much he can’t stand democracy now!

So far it looks like Guatamala only needs a few more votes to get the 2/3 necessary majority. (And even if it doesn’t, a stalemate will result in a third country being picked for the seat).

Venezuelan president Hugo Ch????vez on Monday appeared headed for a personal political defeat at the hands of US-backed Guatemala in his long-held goal to win a temporary seat at the United Nations Security Council.

Guatemala, which has never before held a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, beat Venezuela by 109 votes to 76 in a first round of voting at the General Assembly, and extended its lead to 114 votes versus 74 in the second round, and 116-70 in the third.

But in a fourth vote, Guatemala slipped back to 110 votes, while Venezuela rose back up to 75. Further rounds of voting were postponed until the afternoon.

While Guatemala had not yet garnered the two-thirds of votes it needed to win, as of Monday mid-day in New York, its larger-than-expected lead was a serious blow to the Venezuelan government.

Calling President Bush the devil in front of the UN General Assembly pushed the U.S. government to work overtime securing support. But Chavez also alienated potential allies by running his big mouth all over the place. He alienated many moderate-left government like that of Chile by denouncing them at traitors and stooges. The vast majority of Chileans oppose Chavez.

This all just goes to show that Chavez is losing steam and a populist-socialist Bolivarian Latin American is not an inevitability. The tide is finally going out. His candidate lost in Peru and even Mexico. His interference in so many countries’ internal affairs has pushed them all away. The last question we must wait to answer is how Venezuela’s presidential election goes in December. Will Chavez even be here come the new year?