Nand C Bardouille | Guyana's candidate for top UN post receives backing of Caribbean leaders

Members of a leading regional grouping of Caribbean countries have converged around a candidate regarding the much-publicised race for the next United Nations (UN) Secretary-General. 

Yet this diplomatic moment is not so straightforward. It requires a closer look with an eye to an emergent geopolitical situation that carries warnings for such states, which are especially invested in who takes up the mantle of leadership at the UN.

At their latest summit, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders backed the candidature of Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in respect of the soon-to-be-filled position of the 10th UN Secretary-General.

From the perspective of Guyana, which nominated her on June 15, 2026, this development is a diplomatic triumph.   

BROAD, ROBUST SUPPORT

The communiqué of the recently held Fifty-First Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM notes that, inter alia, "Heads of Government strongly welcomed Guyana's nomination of Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and expressed their full endorsement for her candidacy." 

Several factors drove regional leaders to arrive at this diplomatic stance. And, of course, they were sold on Ambassador Rodrigues-Birkett's three-pronged vision statement that she presented at the said summit.

This vision advances a UN Charter-centred agenda of reasserting the organisation's core principles. Focus is also on reforming the organisation's institutions to enhance its agility, accountability and effectiveness in a rapidly evolving global landscape. 

Finally, emphasis is placed on rallying member states around renewed multilateral cooperation to deliver more coherently across the organisation's three pillars of peace and security, human rights, and development.

A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION

The current regional impetus (that surfaced earlier this month) pertaining to the UN Secretary-General post notwithstanding, it is also noteworthy that one other CARICOM member state has put forward its own candidate for the position under reference. H.E. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, an Ecuadorian national who entered the race on May 11, 2026, is also vying for the position in question as a nominee of Antigua and Barbuda.

What is clear is that regional leaders have now thrown their support behind Guyana's nominee.

Just hours after the aforementioned summit concluded, though, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne published a statement that is notable not just for reaffirming support for his country's candidate for the top job at the world body, but for another signal: that "CARICOM is represented by two highly accomplished candidates for this important office."

SO, ARE WE THERE YET?

This diplomatic positioning is at variance with the previously mentioned summit communiqué's message (quoted above) on the matter of regional support for a new UN chief.

As the race in that regard enters the home stretch, with several candidates in contention, differences apparently still remain within the bloc over the diplomatic approach to filling this high-profile UN vacancy. (It is instructive to note that the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, CARICOM's constituent treaty, enjoins signatories to "establish measures to co-ordinate the foreign policies of the Member States of the Community".)

Even as the regional grouping – comprising 14 sovereign member states – has now converged around a candidate for the new UN chief opening, this is seemingly not quite a done deal. At least, not yet.

HIGH STAKES

For the CARICOM bloc, the reality is a lot is riding on the outcome of the UN Secretary-General race. (The process for the selection and appointment of the UN Secretary-General has evolved – such that inclusivity at the level of the UN General Assembly and transparency have become the order of the day. The UN Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the UN Security Council.)

The second and final five-year term of the current UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, ends in December 2026. His successor (who is scheduled to take office in January 2027) will helm the world's largest international organisation at a time when it is mid-reform, having also come under significant strain in a new geopolitical era.           

Recently, Guterres assessed that the 'law of the jungle' is displacing the 80-year-old rules-based international order. The grim reality of this turn of events is perhaps best understood by small states – such as those of CARICOM – not least because they are most exposed to the dangers of this geopolitical moment's assault on multilateralism and international law.

Indeed, this situation has thrown the future of such states' agency into uncertainty.

Against this backdrop, but also cognisant of the role of the UN Secretary-General in ongoing efforts to bring the world body back on track, CARICOM member states have determined that the outcome of the race for the next UN chief assumes a significance that cuts across all facets of their respective foreign policy priorities.

- Dr Nand C. Bardouille, Ph.D., is the manager of The Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean in the Institute of International Relations at The University of the West Indies (The UWI) St. Augustine Campus, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The views expressed here are his own. Email feedback to [email protected]. ONLINE ONLY COMMENTARY.