UNITED NATIONS —Venezuela’s refusal to withdraw from its deadlocked race with Guatemala for a seat on the U.N. Security Council shows why America opposes President Chavez’s bid for the panel, America’s ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said.

Guatemala, which is backed by America, received 102 votes and Venezuela got 77 yesterday in the 29th round of voting, which began on October 16. Both are vying for a seat reserved for Latin America on the council.

“The honorable thing would be for the candidate that has now lost 28 out of 29 ballots to withdraw,” Mr. Bolton told reporters at the United Nations. “But Venezuela insists on putting everyone through this vote after vote. It is clearly obstructionist.”

Venezuelan and Guatemalan envoys said they would continue competing for the seat after seven rounds yesterday produced little variation in the results. Venezuela tied Guatemala in one of the rounds earlier this week, after which Guatemala regained the lead.

Voting is scheduled to resume at 3 p.m. New York time. Victory requires a two-thirds’ majority of votes cast by the United Nation’s 192 member governments.

Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile said envoys are discussing whether to suspend voting until after the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr on October 24, marking the end of Ramadan, and to limit ballots to one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

In addition to the five permanent members of the Security Council — America, Britain, France, China, and Russia — 10 governments sit on the panel serving two-year terms, with five replaced each year. Only the permanent members have the power to veto council resolutions.