New Chile president withdraws support for Bachelet UN chief bid

Deutsche Tageszeitung - New Chile president withdraws support for Bachelet UN chief bid

New Chile president withdraws support for Bachelet UN chief bid / Photo: © AFP/File

Chile's new hard-right President Jose Antonio Kast on Tuesday withdrew Santiago's support for former socialist president Michelle Bachelet as candidate for the post of UN secretary general.

Change text size:

Kast's leftist predecessor Gabriel Boric had in February backed two-term president Bachelet's attempt to become the first woman to head the United Nations, in a move also supported by leftist-led Brazil and Mexico.

A foreign ministry statement on Tuesday however said Santiago "has decided to withdraw Chile's backing for ex-president Michelle Bachelet as candidate for the post of secretary general of the United Nations."

"The fragmentation of candidacies among Latin American states and the differences with some of the key players shaping this process render this candidacy and its eventual success unviable," the ministry said, while adding it would not back another contender if Bachelet were to seek to stay in the race.

Even without having Chile’s backing, Bachelet, 74, can still proceed with her candidacy, as she retains Brazil's and Mexico's backing.

Each potential candidate must be formally nominated by a state or group of states, but not necessarily by their country of origin.

Bachelet, a pediatrician by profession, is the only woman to have served as president of Chile (2006–2010 and 2014–2018), under the Socialist Party's banner.

She has been hoping to succeed Portugal’s Antonio Guterres, 76, who will conclude his second term at the UN helm on December 31.

As well as president, Bachelet previously served as executive director of UN Women (2010–2013) and later as UN high commissioner for human rights (2018–2022).

To date, no woman has held the post of UN secretary general.

An unwritten rule has it that the top UN post rotates among the world's main regions, and now it's the turn of Latin America.

The only previous Latin American UN secretary general was Peruvian diplomat Javier Perez de Cuellar, who served between 1982 and 1991.

(S.A.Dudajev--DTZ)

Eli Crane Defeats Jonathan Nez in Tight Arizona Congressional Race

Incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Eli Crane has retained his seat in Arizona’s second congressional district after defeating former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez in an unexpectedly close election. The Associated Press called the race on Monday, confirming Crane’s narrow victory following nearly a week of vote counting.

Economist Testifies Canada Has Limited Power to Alter Global Climate

An environmental economist testifying at Canada’s first youth-led climate trial stated Monday that the federal government has limited power to alter the climate within its borders because global warming is largely driven by the choices of other nations. Professor David Anthoff, appearing as the first witness for the federal government in Vancouver, emphasized that while domestic policy matters, it cannot solve the problem in isolation.

MLA seeks inquiry into reported sectarian gestures on Ormeau Road

A SINN FÉIN MLA has condemned reports that loyalist band members made sectarian gestures at the scene of a Troubles massacre where five Catholic civilians were murdered. Deirdre Hargey has now called on police and transport authorities to investigate the claims following Saturday's Belfast Walker Club parade on the Ormeau Road.

Louise O’Reilly attacks Simon Harris over unemployment remarks

Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly has dubbed Fine Gael leader Simon Harris a “Thatcherite” after the Tánaiste claimed that long-term unemployment is “not a way of life. ” The Sinn Féin social protection spokesperson stated that the Tánaiste has chosen to “stigmatise individuals on the margins of society and cast them as work-shy, rather than answer for his Government’s failures and the serious problems within his own party.