Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, permanent representative of Guyana to the United Nations and a self-declared admirer of the Castro brothers, remains among the leading candidates to succeed the Portuguese António Guterres as head of the UN Secretariat, whose term ends on December 31 of this year.
In the third round of informal polling by the Security Council, held on Thursday, Rodrigues-Birkett received eight supportive votes and came in second, very close to the Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, who led the consultation with nine endorsements.
The most criticized aspect of his candidacy is his historical closeness to the Cuban dictatorship, documented in a speech he delivered in January 2013 before the National Assembly of Guyana, when he was serving as the country's chancellor.
On that occasion, Rodrigues-Birkett presented a motion to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Georgetown and Havana, which was unanimously approved, in which he also called for an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
His words before the Guyanese Parliament left no room for ambiguity: "Talking about Cuba, about its achievements, its resilience, its focus on human development, and the immeasurable assistance it has provided to sister countries cannot be done without paying tribute to the visionary, determined, and revolutionary figure behind it all, Commander Fidel Castro Ruiz."
In the same speech, he praised the then-ruler of Cuba: "We must also pay tribute to his brother, President Raúl Castro Ruz, for his leadership of the Cuban people and his continued support for Guyana. We wish both of them a long life and good health."
Rodrigues-Birkett, at the age of 52, was an elementary school teacher before beginning her public career as the Minister of Amerindian Affairs from 2001 to 2008, and then as Chancellor until 2015, becoming the first indigenous woman and the youngest to hold that position in her country.
If elected, she would also become the first woman and the first person of indigenous origin to lead the UN since its foundation in 1945.
His candidacy has the formal backing of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and competes, among others, with the Argentine Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
Another delicate aspect of his profile is his stance on the war in Gaza: during his tenure on the Security Council in 2024-2025, he referred to the Israeli military operations as "mass atrocities" and urged the Council to act "in light of its own responsibility to protect innocent civilians from genocide."
United States, an ally of Israel and with veto power in the Council, has not publicly disclosed its position on the Guyanese candidate, leaving a crucial uncertainty in the process.
In recent days, the former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet —another figure with a history of closeness to authoritarian regimes in the region— withdrew her candidacy after receiving only one vote in support and eleven against in the third round of consultations.
The election of the next Secretary-General requires at least nine favorable votes in the Security Council, without any of the five permanent members—United States, China, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom—exercising their veto, followed by ratification by the General Assembly.
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