Rafael Grossi, current director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was on the final list of four candidates for the General Secretariat of the United Nations, together with former communist president Michelle Bachelet, Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan and Senegalese Macky Sall.
The definition of António Guterres' next successor begins to take shape this week with public hearings before all 193 member states.
For two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, each applicant will be submitted for three hours to questions from both government representatives and civil society, at a preliminary stage of the process.
Rafael Grossi.
This is a relatively recent mechanism within the body, implemented in 2016 with the objective of providing greater transparency to the election. In fact, this is only the second time in the more than 80-year history of the UN that this type of public presentation of candidates has taken place.
In this context, Grossi's presence in the final instance positions Argentina in a high-level international competition, in the midst of a global scenario marked by conflicts and structural challenges for the organization.
The story of Grossi
The 65-year-old Argentine diplomat built his international projection based on his role at the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a position he has held since
2019.
From there, he has been involved in issues of high geopolitical sensitivity, such as Iran's nuclear program and the situation of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, currently under the control of Russian forces.
Rafael Grossi.
In his letter of candidacy, Grossi proposed a vision focused on the historic role of the organization: he advocates a “return (of the UN) to its founding bases: saving humanity from the scourge of war
”.
At the same time, Latin America seeks to position itself to lead the organization. Since the creation of the UN in 1945, only one Latin American has held office: the Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
, between 1982 and 1991.
The current leadership of Guterres, which began in 2017, corresponds to Europe, reinforcing regional arguments for a change of leadership.
With this scenario, the inclusion of Grossi in the final list places him at the center of a definition that will set the course of the UN in the coming years.
