The former Chilean President is supported by Mexico and Brazil.
On Tuesday, Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile, and Rafael Grossi, the current director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), presented their candidacies to succeed Antonio Guterres as Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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Both defended their candidacies at UN headquarters in New York through an interactive dialogue, answering questions from member states and citizens, followed by public appearances before the international media.
Each candidate has three hours to present their vision. Bachelet spoke in the morning, while Grossi will speak in the afternoon, beginning with ten-minute presentations before answering thematic questions.
On Wednesday, it will be the turn of Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and former vice president of Costa Rica, along with Macky Sall, former president of Senegal.
The debate is organized into two segments: first, leadership, experience, and skills; second, the three pillars of the UN—peace and security, development, and human rights—as fundamental axes of evaluation.
The text reads, “Pedro Sanchez, President of Spain, supports Michelle Bachelet’s candidacy to lead the UN: We believe the time has come for the UN to be reformed, renewed and led by a woman; it is not only a matter of justice, but it is also a matter of credibility.”
Annalena Baerbock, President of the General Assembly, emphasized that these dialogues constitute a crucial step for the United Nations, underscoring that the election of the Secretary-General directly impacts global multilateral governance.
She stressed that the decision is not merely administrative, but rather a “declaration of intentions.” The Secretary-General is the principal defender of the UN Charter and guarantor of the rules-based international order.
The regional rotation favors Latin America, since Bachelet was nominated by former President Gabriel Boric and supported by Mexico and Brazil. However, Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast withdrew his official support of her.
The Security Council will debate the nomination behind closed doors in July, and the General Assembly will formalize the appointment between August and October, before Guterres’s departure in December.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
