U.S. plans to push Guatemala into the U.N. Security Council was dealt a severe blow when the 15-member Carribean Community (CARICOM) declared they would support Venezuela.

CARICOM officials sited Guatemala's hostile land dispute with Belize and its failure to offer diplomatic support in the region's attempts to gain more favorable trade terms as reasons for its opposition to Guatemala. And according to an editorial in the Jamaica Gleaner, "Guatemala’s social policies also do not sit well with the Carribean."

CARICOM will send a delegation to CARACAS to strengthen diplomatic relations and to discuss ways to better execute PetroCaribe, a treaty signed last June which allows Carribean nations to purchase oil from Venezuela at favorable prices but which has stalled because many of the nations involved lack the capabiltities to receive fuel shipments.