New Chile President Kast withdraws support for Bachelet's UN chief bid

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

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 was withdrawing its backing for Bachelet.

"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.

Kast told reporters that promoting the former president's candidacy would entail "a significant cost" for Chile.

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

"I will continue working jointly with the governments of Brazil and Mexico, who have put forward my name, thereby reaffirming the collective nature of this project," Bachelet said in a statement released shortly after Kast's decision became public.

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

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

She has been hoping to succeed Portugal's António 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.

Costa Rican national Rebeca Grynspan, who heads the UN Conference on Trade and Development, and Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, are also vying for the post.

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

– TIMES/AFP