by Stefano Vaccara
NEW YORK (ITALPRESS) – First public release and first political test for Michelle Bachelet in the succession race of the Secretary General of the United Nations. With the start of the Interactive Dialogues of the General Assembly, the most visible phase of a process remains formally open but substantially conditioned by the balances of the Security Council.
The former president of Chile and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights took part on Tuesday morning in the first meeting with the Member States (during more than three hours) and, immediately afterward, answered the questions of journalists, outlining the central points of its candidacy. The most delicate moment is political pressure from the United States.
To the question of a reporter on a letter sent by some senators and members of the Congress to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to call for a veto to his appointment, criticizing his positions on abortion defined too “serious”, Bachelet reiterated his support for the rights of women “without distinctions”, adding that, as Secretary General, he would retain his convictions while respecting those of others.
A significant step, considering that the final choice depends on the five permanent members of the Security Council. Asked again if he feared the American veto, Bachelet replied recalling that during his presidency of Chile, in Donald Trump’s first term, the relations between the two countries remained positive.
Politically calibrated words reflect the nature of a competition in which formal transparency intertwines with decisive geopolitical dynamics. The race has just begun, and after Bachelet, this afternoon will be the turn of Argentine Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN nuclear agency. The race to the most important office of the United Nations has already entered live.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
