Argentina opposes Brazilian admission to UN Security Council

Argentina is against the admission of Brazil as a permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, the Argentine ambassador to Brazil Juan Pablo Lohle said Thursday.

"To us, the Security Council is already a discrimination we all accepted on the past in the name of peace. We don't think that more privileged countries will improve its legitimacy," the ambassador said at a conference attended by diplomats and students from the Rio Branco Institute.

"Brazil is a perfect candidate, but why they didn't choose Argentina, Mexico and Chile, for example?" Lohle questioned, saying that it's not fair for one country to represent Latin America.

Argentina's Vice Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana has also expressed opposition to Brazil's UN bid. Taiana said the security organism would be a "factor of instability in the region, by establishing hegemony that today doesn't exist."

Since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came to power in January 2003, Brazil has been engaged in an international campaign to get a permanent seat at the Security Council in case it is enlarged.

Several other countries, including Germany, India and Japan are also making a bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

Source: Xinhua