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The 10 non-permanent members have no veto powers, which are reserved for Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. But they do wield some influence during crucial debates on international peace and security. Venezuela has already sided with Iran on the nuclear issue.
Oil rich Venezuela, which has been lobbying for the seat for a long time, distributing huge amounts of aid among African, Asian and Caribbean nations. But it is vehemently opposed by the United States.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez made the headlines during the UN general Assembly in September when he described US President George Bush as the Devil.
On Monday, the UN General Assembly elected South Africa, Italy, Belgium and Indonesia as non-permanent members for the two-year term beginning January 1, 2007.
But in the 22 rounds of voting since Monday, neither of the two nations vying to replace Argentina won two-thirds of the votes needed to win the seat, which will be vacated by Argentina at the end of the year.
Peru, the other non-permanent Latin American member of the UNSC, will step down in December 2007.
Venezuela's ambassador to the UN, Francisco Arias Cardenas has repeatedly complained that Washington was pressuring UN members to vote against his country. "We are fighting against the first power of the world, the owners of the universe. We're happy, we're strong and we will continue," he told reporters.
Accusing the United States of "using all its power" to undermine Venezuela's chances, senior Venezuelan diplomat Roy Chaderton told Venezuelan State Television that the results were only a minor setback in a prolonged struggle against US efforts to dominate international affairs.
"This battle will prepare us for another battle within the international community. There were a lot of telephone calls made from Washington... to coerce and scare countries that had decided to vote for Venezuela," he said.
Even Guatemala seemed uncomfortable with the blatant American opposition to Venezuela. "Frankly we resent it a bit being told we are going to toe the line of not only the United States but any other power. We make our own decisions," Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal told journalists.
The most number of ballots for a non-permanent Security Council seat was in 1979, when the General Assembly held 154 unsuccessful votes to decide between Cuba and Colombia. Finally, Mexico was suggested as a compromise candidate and it won in the 155th round.
This time, the other possible other candidates include Uruguay, Costa Rica, Mexico again or Chile. While Chile has said it was not seeking a seat on the council this year, other nations could propose it as a consensus candidate.