Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said his country would win a UN Security Council seat this evening in a fiercely contested vote.
The vote at the UN General Assembly will be a key diplomatic test for President Chavez, who has campaigned widely for the seat.
The United States has claimed Mr Chavez would be a disruptive force on the 15-member Security Council.
A Security Council seat could give Venezuela concrete opportunities to challenge US foreign policy goals. Mr Chavez has promised to stand by Iran in its efforts to avoid UN sanctions over its nuclear programme, defending the Islamic country against allegations that it want to build an atomic bomb.
Venezuela and Guatemala both say they have a majority of votes in the 192-member General Assembly. If neither side is able to muster the two-thirds majority, the 33-nation Latin American group could decide to nominate another candidate.
The rotating seat is decided by a secret vote, although much of the Caribbean and South America have voiced support for Venezuela. The 53 African countries are expected to lean toward Venezuela, while Asia's 54 nations appear to be split.
Guatemala has the support of Colombia, apparently most of Central America, Europe and other countries. Guatemalan officials have expressed concern that US campaigning on its behalf has hurt its bid, turning the contest into a United States versus Chavez battle that has sidelined Guatemala.
Venezuela has served four times on the Security Council. Guatemala, emerging from years of brutal US-backed dictatorship, has never had a seat but is a leading contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping missions.
The 10 non-permanent seats on the council are filled by the regional groups for two-year stretches. The other five are occupied by the veto-wielding permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
AP