Mexico won the rotating seat to represent Latin America and the Caribbean on the United Nations Security Council for the 2002-2003 period with a second round vote of 138 to 40. Mexico needed two votes to win over the DR since in the first round neither of the two countries received the necessary two-thirds of the total. The first round ended 116 to 60. The Security Council is the United Nations’ most powerful body. It has "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security." Syria, Bulgaria, Cameroon and Guinea were the other non-permanent members in the Security Council elected in yesterday’s general assembly.
