Many rounds voting have been held

Gert Ronsenthal said Guatemala may withdraw "in time" - but only if Venezuela did not win the seat.

The UN General Assembly has been holding votes since Monday to choose between the Latin American candidates.

Guatemala has regularly polled the most votes, but neither side has got the two-thirds majority needed.

Rotating influence

"We will continue the battle and, in time, when we are absolutely convinced that we cannot continue, we will then meet with our regional group and search for another candidate," Mr Rosenthal told a radio station according to news agency AFP.

Representatives of Latin American countries met on Wednesday to find a compromise in New York but their talks were not conclusive.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela said he would never surrender in what he described as the battle against the United States and its proxy Guatemala.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has said his country will never surrender

A 1979 battle between Cuba and Colombia took three months of voting to resolve, with Mexico eventually winning as the compromise candidate.

This time, Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay could emerge in a compromise.

Five of the UN Security Council seats are held permanently by China, the US, Russia, the UK and France. The others are held by regional blocs from Africa, Latin America, Asia, Western Europe and Eastern Europe.