Four Latin Americans who could become the UN’s next leader

Latin American and Caribbean nations will seek to unite behind a single candidate in the contest to lead the United Nations, a move that may put the global decision making body on course to elect its first-ever female secretary-general.

Thirty out of 33 nations of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States agreed at their Wednesday leaders summit in Honduras to seek a consensus candidate.

“Our countries shared conviction that it is timely and appropriate for a Latin American and Caribbean person to serve as Secretary-General of the United Nations, considering that, out of the nine Secretary-Generals the UN has had to date, only one came from a country in the region, and recalling that the position has never been held by a woman,” said the statement published at the end of the meeting.

It’s a significant step for a region that is widely expected to produce the next UN chief when current Secretary-General António Guterres leaves at the end of 2026 after two terms in charge. The position informally rotates around the world’s regions, and Latin America and the Caribbean are next in line.

Forming that consensus, however, won’t be easy. Argentina, Paraguay and Nicaragua didn’t sign the document. The letter doesn’t explicitly say the countries will seek to back a female candidate, but rather only mentions how important it could be. Differing views of gender politics across the region, along with caution around choosing a contender conservative governments may perceive as too far left, could push the talks in a different direction.

Guterres has indicated that he would like the 15-member UN Security Council, which elects the secretary-general, to choose a woman as his successor. It’s a desire shared by Brazil — Latin America’s largest nation — which has already begun pushing its neighbours to come together behind a history-making pick.

“We can contribute to restoring the credibility of the UN by electing the organization’s first female secretary-general,” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in a speech delivered at the summit.

Brazil is working for a female UN secretary-general, Ambassador Gisela Padovan, the secretary for Latin American and Caribbean affairs at Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters last week.

“There are candidates of political, intellectual and leadership weight, we know there are countries that have a slightly different view of gender issues but we will negotiate,” she said.

Discussions are still in the early stages, but here’s a look at four names that have circulated among regional diplomats as potential candidates for the role, according to three people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity to discuss it.

Mia Mottley, Barbados prime minister

The longtime leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Mia Mottley became the island nation’s first female prime minister when she oversaw its landslide election victory in 2018. Mottley, 59, won re-election in 2022.

On the world stage, she’s become known as a champion of climate action: Earlier this year, she announced that Barbados has a plan to reach net zero emissions by 2035, a decade faster than Germany’s ambitious plan. Mottley has also placed her nation at the forefront of innovative financial approaches to climate change, and has urged poor and developing nations to work together on solutions at a time when rich countries like the United States are pulling back.

Mottley has also served as a co-chair of the Development Committee of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Michelle Bachelet, former Chile president

Michelle Bachelet, 73, served as Chile’s first female president from 2006-2010, then returned for a second stint as its leader from 2014-2018. A member of the Partido Socialista who led a centre-left coalition, she guided the South American nation through the aftermath of the sub-prime crisis, created government-financed pensions for the poor, provided more students access to free higher education and promoted women’s rights.

She has served in positions at the United Nations, including as its first Executive Director of UN Women, where she supported work on gender equality, and later became the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was widely considered a contender in this year’s Chilean presidential election before closing the door on a run in March.

A trained doctor, Bachelet overcame intense hardship in her personal life. Her father was tortured and killed during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, while she was tortured and then exiled in Australia and East Germany.

Rebeca Grynspan, former Costa Rica vice-president

An economist who served as Costa Rica’s second-in-command from 1994-1998, Rebeca Grynspan has held the position of UN’s secretary-general of trade and development. Grynspan, 69, is the first woman to hold that position, and has played a key role in talks between Russia and Ukraine over deals to keep hostilities from disrupting trade routes.

Grynspan has previously held numerous other positions at the UN. She was its under-secretary general and the associate administration of the UN Development Program, and before that the director of the UNDP’s Latin America and Caribbean bureau.

Juan Manuel Santos, former Colombia president

If there’s no consensus around a female leader, Brazil could push for former Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos as the region’s candidate, according to the people familiar with the situation. Santos, 73, held numerous ministerial roles before becoming Colombia’s leader. In 2016, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a peace treaty between the government and the FARC guerrilla movement. But like Guterres and Lula, Santos also says a woman should be the next UN chief.