Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez vowed on Tuesday to win support from "three Caribbean friends" and "important countries" of other sub-regions for his bid to win the post of the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS).

He will seek the support of Caribbean countries and meanwhile will keep the "unity and strength" of the 34-nation organization, Derbez said on the radio show "Enfoque."

On Monday, the OAS failed to elect a new secretary general in Washington as Derbez and Chilean Interior Minister Jose Miguel Insulza received 17 votes each in five consecutive ballots.

Eighteen votes are required for victory. The OAS has decided to hold a new election on May 2.

Derbez said: "Without any doubt, I am confident we will win the election, because what was clear on Monday in Washington was that Mexico kept its 17 votes and the countries of all sub-regions supported us."

Backing the Mexican candidate are the United States, Canada, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Central American countries, and some Caribbean countries.

Chile has votes from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Venezuela, and most of the Caribbean countries.

Derbez said he is going to "capitalize on the Mexican leadership" to gain more votes in the Caribbean, an area considered as key to the results of the May 2 voting.

With 14 votes, the Caribbean boasts the OAS' largest voting bloc.

Insulza also said on Tuesday that he will try to "convince those who are not convinced" to win the next round of voting.

"We know who voted for us and who did not, and we will work with them but won't point out anybody for the moment," Insulza told Chilean media in Washington.

"It was a tough battle, but I think we regained our strength and tied the election, which is recognized as a great 'feat'," he said.

Insulza said he hopes "to talk with the sponsors, with the State Department of the United States and get things straight on what we mean, on what our candidacy is about."

The election was called after former OAS Secretary General Miguel Angel Rodriguez, a former Costa Rican president, resigned last fall to face charges of financial wrongdoing back home.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2005)