Banana politics redux: Venezuela picks up Caribbean support

Barbados is backing Venezuela for a UN Security Council seat, saying it cannot support Guatemala because of that country's objectionable banana policies.

Radio Jamaica reports that Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur also objects to Guatemala because the Central American country has territorial issues with Belize, "and the region must take a position that will protect the territorial integrity of its members."

Arthur said nothing about Venezuela's territorial claims on neighboring Guyana.

The Barbados position is important because in the UN, as in the Organization of American States, the tiny island micro-states count as much as large countries.

The failure of the US to gain Barbados' opposition to Chavez shows how weak the United States has become diplomatically in its own front yard.