 Voting was scheduled to recommence in the afternoon of 1 November, but a joint communiqué released by the foreign ministers of Guatemala and Venezuela shortly after noon requested that the day's balloting be suspended.They then announced that after negotiations chaired by Diego Cordovez, Ecuador's representative to the UN and chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Group, the two had agreed to withdraw their candidacies and propose Panama as a consensus candidate.The GRULAC states unanimously endorsed Panama at a meeting on 3 November.