The former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, has begun her path to reach the general secretariat of the United Nations. The socialist, who is nominated by Brazil and Mexico after the right-wing administration of José Antonio Kast withdrew the Chilean Government’s support, has been the first of the four candidates to present her proposals in an interactive dialogue held this Tuesday in New York. The race to achieve the leadership of the UN is long and concludes in July and August 2026, when the General Assembly defines the successor to the current head of the multilateral body, the Portuguese António Guterres, for the 2027-2031 period.
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Bachelet is part of a list of registered candidates that is completed by the Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, the Argentine Rafael Grossi, and the Senegalese Macky Sall. Although there is no specific rule defining a rotation among the origins of UN secretaries-general, there is a tradition that defines that this year the chosen one must be from Latin America. Added to this is the possibility of electing the first woman to head the organization, which would reduce the main options to Bachelet and Grynspan.
In a first stage, the Security Council must choose one of the candidates, who will be recommended to the General Assembly, which makes the final election. The Council has a list of countries, including the major world powers, that have the power to veto some of the candidates. This phase is one of the most complex for Bachelet’s candidacy, as she is exposed to a possible rejection from the United States. Both this possibility and the presumed fragmentation of Latin American candidacies have been used as arguments by Kast’s Executive to withdraw its support for the progressive former president.
Rebeca Grynspan
Rebeca Grynspan’s candidacy was announced on March 5 by the Government of then-President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves. The president said that the economist had the full support of the Executive and the “political forces” of the Central American country. Grynspan is the Secretary-General of UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development). In her extensive political and diplomatic career, she has held positions such as Minister of Housing and Human Settlements; Coordinating Minister of the Economic Sector and the Social Sector of the Government; and Second Vice President of Costa Rica during the Administration of José María Figueres (1994-1998). Between 2006 and 2010, she was regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and in 2010, she was appointed associate administrator of the same organization. In 2014, she was elected Ibero-American Secretary-General, a position she left in 2021 and in which she was succeeded by the Chilean Andrés Allamand.
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Rafael Grossi
Grossi’s nomination, a career diplomat with 40 years of experience, was announced in November 2025 by the Government of Argentine President Javier Milei. He is the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a multilateral body that promotes the safe use of nuclear technology. Grossi has held various positions, mostly related to the use of nuclear energy and disarmament. Between 2002 and 2007, he was Chief of Staff at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). As a career diplomat, he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, where he held positions such as Head of Chancery at the Embassy to Belgium and Luxembourg between 1998 and 2002 and Argentina’s representative to NATO between 1998 and 2001. Between 2013 and 2019, he was Argentina’s ambassador to Austria, a position he held during the administrations of the Peronist Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) and the conservative Mauricio Macri (2015-2019).
Macky Sall
He is the only candidate who does not come from a Latin American nation. He was president of Senegal between 2012 and 2024. He also served as prime minister of his country between 2004 and 2007, in addition to being president of the National Assembly between 2007 and 2008. Between 2022 and 2023, he was president of the African Union, an entity that brings together 54 African states to promote unity and development of the continent. His candidacy has been weakened precisely by the lack of official support from the African Union, in addition to the traditional rotation that places the new secretary-general in Latin America.
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