Chilean President Gabriel Boric has officially submitted the nomination of former President Michelle Bachelet to be a candidate in the race for the next secretary-general of the United Nations, succeeding António Guterres, a Portuguese politician who has led the organization since 2017. Boric made the announcement on Feb. 2, saying that the required documents have been sent to the president of the UN General Assembly.
“Former President Michelle Bachelet faithfully embodies the values of the United Nations, and this candidacy expresses a shared hope: that Latin America and the Caribbean make their voice heard in building collective solutions to the tremendous challenges of our time,” Boric said in a post on X social media, photographed in Santiago at Moneda Palace with Bachelet and others.
“With this shared commitment to the defense of democracy, global governance, multilateralism, and human rights, from Latin America we continue to believe in an international system that can and must be capable of responding with greater effectiveness, legitimacy, and humanity to the great problems of the global world. A source of pride for Chile!,” Boric added.
Her candidacy is supported by Brazil and Mexico, two powerhouses of Latin America. The Latin America and Caribbean bloc at the UN says that its turn is next to lead the organization for the upcoming five-year term, starting Jan. 1, 2027.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, said on X that it is time for the 80-year-old UN to finally be led by a woman. “Her experience, leadership and commitment to multilateralism qualify her to lead the UN at a time when the international context is marked by conflicts, inequalities and democratic setbacks,” he added.
Bachelet said at the announcement in Santiago: “I am deeply honored to be a candidate for Secretary General not only for Chile, but also for Brazil and Mexico. I am grateful for the support of this state-backed candidacy and I accept the tremendous responsibility it entails.”
The filing makes Bachelet, 74, the second candidate — and only woman so far — to formally declare interest in the race. She joins Argentine diplomat Rafael Mariano Grossi, the 64-year-old director-general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the race. He has the backing of his president, Javier Milei. Argentina is the second-largest country by total area in Latin America and another powerhouse.
Rebeca Grynspan, 70, who heads the UN Conference on Trade and Development and is a former vice president of Costa Rica, is apparently ready to formally declare her candidacy as well.
The selection process to choose the next UN leader occurs as the UN faces fiscal collapse, according to Guterres, who sent a letter to the 193 member states last week, spelling out the grim prospects. If the crisis does not improve by July, senior UN officials told reporters that the organization could shut down. The nonpayment of the dues owed by the United States, $2.2 billion, is the chief factor in the UN’s straits. President Trump reportedly said on Feb. 1 that he could “solve the problem very easily” and get other countries to pay — if the UN asked.
On Jan. 30, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced in Madrid at a conference on women leading the UN, that his country supports the idea of a woman secretary-general, but he did not endorse a specific person.
Bachelet is expected to begin campaigning for the UN’s top post immediately, according to a senior official from Chile, adding that her race will be paid through public resources.
The spokesperson for the president of the General Assembly, La Neice Collins, confirmed to PassBlue that the documentation for Bachelet’s candidacy has been received and would be made public later today, adding that a joint letter from the president of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, and the current rotating president of the Security Council, James Kariuki of Britain, will be sent to member states.
Bachelet is a veteran Chilean politician and diplomat. She served twice as president of Chile (2006-2010 and 2014-2018), breaking ground as the country’s first female head of state. After her presidencies, she held senior roles at the UN, including as the high commissioner for human rights (2018-2022) and, earlier, as the executive director of UN Women, giving her deep experience in multilateral diplomacy and global governance.
Richard Gowan, the program director of global issues and institutions at the International Crisis Group conflict-prevention think tank, pointed out that her nomination might also end the aspirations of Alice Bárcena, a potential candidate for the race who is Mexico’s minister of the environment. Bárcena could be nominated by another UN member state, but she cannot count on Mexico’s endorsement now.
General Assembly Resolution 79/327 on revitalization of its work has a specific focus on the selection process of the next secretary-general and provides that member states may nominate only one candidate either individually or jointly with others.
Due to an editing error, the article has been updated to reflect the location of Mexico: it is in Latin America, not South America.
Damilola Banjo is an award-winning staff reporter for PassBlue who has covered a wide range of topics, from Africa-centered stories to gender equality to UN peacekeeping and US-UN relations. She also oversees all video production for PassBlue. She was a Dag Hammarskjold fellow in 2023 and a Pulitzer Center postgraduate fellow in 2021. She was part of the BBC Africa team that produced the Emmy-nominated documentary, “Sex for Grades.” In addition, she worked for WFAE, an NPR affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Banjo has a master’s of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and an undergraduate degree from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
North America Map / Map of North America – Facts, Geography …Mexico is geographically located in North America and is culturally and historically part
fixed, thanks
It is sad that neither the author nor her editors at Passblue can correctly identify countries in the region. Mexico is a NORTH American country, not “South American”, and Argentina a “Powerhouse”? Really, a country that has lived out of IMF / US Funds like no other in the world, and still has an economy in shambles. Poor research that does not represent the realities in the region. There are other errors but let’s say that those two stand out to a seasoned observer of the UN and international affairs more broadly.
We have fixed the reference to Mexico. Working on tight deadlines means you make mistakes.
Great, thanks.
Damilola, thank you for this great summary, I would say that I am worried that so far we have 3 candidates from the same Latin America region (Argentina, Chili, Costa-Rica), I was thinking that this time will be the time of the Caribbean and also Michele the strong candidate so far has three words in her resume which may be challenging for the P5 or the members of the Jungle as we know: Female- UN Women-Human Rights. Hope for the best candidate who can rebuild the UN into an equal, equitable, inclusive organisation, impact oriented and respectful of international law and human rights for we the people!
Alice Bárcena had earlier withdrawn her candidacy