Ecuador's Espinosa joins battle to lead United Nations

May 12, 2026 6:25 AM EDT

FILE PHOTO: United Nations General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

GENEVA, May ‌12 (Reuters) - ​Antigua ​and Barbuda has nominated Ecuador's ‌Maria Fernanda Espinosa as ⁠candidate to be the ‌next United Nations ‌Secretary-General, a U.N. official told Reuters on Tuesday.

Espinosa, ​a former foreign affairs minister and ⁠defence minister in Ecuador, headed ​the U.N. General Assembly in New York ​from 2018-2019.

Five candidates ‌are now competing to take over ⁠from outgoing U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, including ⁠three women seeking to ​become the first female head.

Elections are due later this ‌year and the new Secretary-General's five-year term ‌will begin ⁠on January ‌1, 2027.

(Reporting ​by Emma Farge, editing by Kirsti ‌Knolle)



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