Neither Venezuela nor Guatemala earned enough votes on Monday in the first round of UN polling to win Latin America's non-permanent seat on the Security Council.
Guatemala won 109 votes to 76 for Venezuela, but 124 were needed to win the seat, General Assembly President Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa announced. There were seven abstentions.
Khalifa said there would be another round of voting later on Monday.
Venezuela, whose President Hugo Chavez is a fierce critic of the United States, and Guatemala, strongly supported by Washington, have been in a pitched battle for the regional seat for months.
The assembly meanwhile elected Belgium, Italy, South Africa and Indonesia to the four other open non-permanent seats on the council. The five countries elected Monday will replace Denmark, Greece, Tanzania, Japan and Argentina, which will leave the council at the end of the year.