United Nations ? U.S.-backed Guatemala got the upper hand in a seesaw tussle Monday to secure a seat on the U.N. Security Council, dealing a surprising blow to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s ambitions to lead a worldwide anti-Washington front.

But in 10 rounds of voting Guatemala fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win the seat, reserved for a Latin American nation, raising the specter of a lengthy battle that eventually could lead to a compromise candidacy.

Venezuelan officials blamed U.S. pressures for blocking their bid to secure a seat that brings international prestige and a voice on such key issues as the nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea.

Francisco Arias, Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador, said Washington was exerting “grotesque, obscene” pressures on U.N. members to vote for Guatemala, and he vowed his country would fight on.

“Venezuela is staying; Venezuela is by no means pulling out,” he said after the fourth round of voting, adding that Washington was campaigning against his country as if “we were inventing a nuclear bomb.”

The leftist Chavez has been a steady and strident critic of the Bush administration, and a victory in the Security Council race would give him a strong voice in Latin American regional affairs.

Most analysts had expected Venezuela to outpoll Guatemala in the election, one of the most disputed in Security Council history. Chavez had traveled the globe in search of votes, touting himself as a strong voice opposed to Washington. U.S. officials have complained that Chavez has been using his oil wealth to expand his influence.

But diplomats privately said Chavez hurt Venezuela in a speech last month at the U.N. General Assembly, in which he called President Bush “a devil.”

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal, who attended the session, told reporters after the 10th ballot that his country would maintain its candidacy for now but would be willing later to consider a compromise.

“We’re going to see how things evolve in the next day or two,” he said. More rounds of voting are expected today.

Although the vote was secret, many South American and Caribbean nations, as well as African and Arab nations, were known to be backing Venezuela, while Washington and most European and Central America nations were supporting Guatemala. Chile, Ecuador and Peru abstained in the first round but didn’t say how they voted in the later ballots.

The winner will succeed Argentina in a two-year term on the Security Council that begins in January 2008.

The other four seats that will come open on the council were filled easily. South Africa, Indonesia, Italy and Belgium will start their terms on the council on Jan. 1, replacing Tanzania, Japan, Denmark and Greece.