MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan President Orsi holds talks with Michelle Bachelet

Bachelet is in Montevideo to participate in a forum on women in politics

Former two-time Chilean President Michelle Bachelet met on Wednesday in Montevideo with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi as part of her campaign to bid for the position of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, replacing the Portuguese António Guterres.

Bachelet was in Uruguay to participate in a workshop on women in politics held on Oct. 8 and 9, which involved female parliamentarians and local officials from Latin America.

The conversation was described as cordial and focused on the importance of working together on global challenges and multilateralism.

A significant topic was Bachelet's potential candidacy for the UN's top spot, with a focus on the need that whoever becomes the next UN leader must stem from Latin America. Hopefully, it should also be a woman, they concurred. Bachelet described her nomination by Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font as an “honor.”

Bachelet, who served as President of Chile during two non-consecutive terms (2006–2010 and 2014–2018), also held prominent international roles as Director of UN Women and later as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She currently acts as Vice President of the Club of Madrid, a global forum comprising over 130 former democratic heads of state and government from more than 70 countries.

Wednesday's meeting was scheduled when the two leaders met in New York during Orsi's participation at the UN General Assembly.