The UN General Assembly elected Panama to the Security Council on Tuesday in a compromise move that ended a protracted fight between Venezuela and US-backed Guatemala for the seat.
Venezuela, whose President Hugo Chavez is a foe of the current US government, and Guatemala went through 48 rounds of voting over four weeks trying to secure the non-permanent council seat earmarked for the region.
Panama will replace Argentina on the council from January 1, 2007.
Last week, Guatemala and Venezuela decided to give up their rival bids for a UN Security Council seat and make way for Panama as a compromise candidate.
US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton on Thursday welcomed Venezuela's failure to secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, saying that Caracas had only itself to blame after Chavez used his speech to the General Assembly to repeatedly call US President George W. Bush, "the devil."
"The Venezuelans defeated themselves through a variety of their tactics," Bolton said, citing Chavez's "unconscionable speech to the General Assembly, which I think was taken by many of the members to be indicative of how they would behave in the council."
"It was an act of podiacide," Bolton said, using a word he coined to indicate that Venezuela had shot itself in the foot.
The US envoy had lobbied hard for Guatemala, fearing that Venezuela, under leftist President Hugo Chavez, would use a council seat to oppose US measures and openly attack the United States.
But, he said, "the defeat of Venezuela certainly accomplishes our principal objective."
For his part, Chavez characterised his ability to stymie Guatemala's candidacy as a victory over US imperialism.