Chile

Sept. 26 (UPI) — Chilean President Gabriel Boric has officially nominated former President Michelle Bachelet as a candidate for U.N. secretary-general, launching her bid to lead the organization in 2027.

“Michelle Bachelet is not only a widely known and respected figure on the global stage. She is a woman whose life story is deeply consistent with the values that inspire this organization. She has served twice as Chile’s president and was, of course, the first woman to do so,” Boric said In his address Tuesday to the General Assembly,

He added that in her roles as executive director of U.N. Women and U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Bachelet “has governed, negotiated, healed and listened.” Her career allows her, in “times of fragmentation and mistrust,” to be a figure capable of building bridges.

The term of U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres of Portugal ends in December 2026. Only Bolivian Vice President David Choquehuanca has also been nominated, and Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said he wants the position.

In July, a group of 36 former Latin American foreign ministers issued a statement stressing the urgent need to renew U.N. leadership, calling for stronger regional representation and for a woman to lead the organization.

Similarly, the former diplomats warned of “a clear gap in global representation,” noting that Latin America and the Caribbean have had only one U.N. secretary-general in eight decades — Peru’s Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, who served from 1982 to 1991 — and they called on member states “to support our region in taking on this responsibility in the next cycle.”

Several women have been mentioned as potential candidates for the U.N. leadership.

Costa Rican economist Rebeca Grynspan, 69, is secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development and a former vice president of Costa Rica. She is seen as a leading contender because of her long career and close ties within the U.N. system.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has endorsed biologist and diplomat Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s environment secretary and former executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ecuadorian diplomat María Fernanda Espinosa has also been mentioned. She presided over the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly, becoming the first woman to hold that post. She has also served as foreign minister and ambassador to the United Nations.

Mia Amor Mottley, 60, is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to hold either position.

“There are other very competent candidates, which is why a strong diplomatic effort and the presentation of a program for U.N. governance in difficult times will be key to standing out from the rest,” Heraldo Muñoz, former foreign minister of Chile, told UPI.

Muñoz also served as assistant secretary-general of the U.N. Development Program for Latin America and the Caribbean and as Chile’s ambassador to the United Nations.

He added that by announcing its candidate before the General Assembly, Chile “immediately positioned the former president’s bid before member states, the international press, commentators who follow world politics and civil society.”

He stressed that what comes next is hard work by Chile’s foreign ministry to deploy “its diplomatic resources to secure formal support from member states in different regions. They will have to be convinced by Michelle Bachelet’s experience in senior U.N. positions.”

Once candidates are officially nominated, the election of the next U.N. secretary-general has two stages.

All members of the Security Council must vote on a candidate. If any of the five permanent members veto the choice, that candidate is immediately out of the race. When a consensus emerges, the name is submitted to the General Assembly, which then votes to ratify or reject the appointment.

“It will be necessary to pay special attention to the 15 members of the Security Council, which proposes a name to the General Assembly. Priority work will be required with the five permanent members, who hold veto power over the candidacies,” Muñoz said.

René Jara, a political scientist and professor at the University of Santiago, said that “any alliance that can be made with other countries, particularly with the BRICS, is important.”

Jara added that the election will pit two forces against each other: those who support U.S. foreign policy and “those who will be a counterweight to those policies.” In his view, “that will be the big battle.”

Sept. 18 (UPI) — Brazil and Chile signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen defense cooperation, focusing on technological development, military equipment manufacturing and logistics modernization.

With the recently signed agreement, Brazil deepens its strategic ties with Chile and expands its role as a key supplier of aircraft, armored vehicles and defense systems to countries such as Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and now Chile.

In his most recent public address in June, President Gabriel Boric expressed his intention to diversify Chile’s defense trade relations, “to stop depending on the Israeli industry in every area,” in protest against Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

“For Chile, Brazil is a strategic partner. This agreement allows us to make a technological leap and advance in our own military production and logistics capabilities,” Chilean Defense Minister Adriana Delpiano said.

The agreement enables technology transfers from Brazil, particularly in aircraft such as Embraer’s C-390 Millennium, and calls for strengthening logistics capabilities at ports, bases and military transport systems.

The document also provides for the joint manufacturing of strategic components, with the possibility of regional exports, and for military interoperability in joint exercises and international missions.

Brazil’s defense industry is thriving. The country has consolidated its position as a global exporter of defense products and services, with sales to nearly 140 countries worldwide. The sector has become a strategic pillar of the economy, accounting for 3.58% of national GDP and generating about 2.9 million direct and indirect jobs.

Former Chilean Deputy Defense Secretary Gabriel Gaspar said that through Embraer, Brazil has the leading aerospace industry in Latin America. Together with Chile, he added, the two nations have ambitious naval construction plans.

The cooperation framework between the two countries establishes a Bilateral Defense Industry Committee to review collaboration in the naval, aerospace and land sectors, including technical exchanges, joint procurement and local equipment manufacturing.

“The agreement does not arise in isolation. In April 2025, the governments of Chile and Brazil met in Brasília to review common priorities. Among them was the need to strengthen mechanisms for technical and industrial cooperation,” said Humberto García, president of the Chilean Institute of Public Policy.

That same month, Presidents Gabriel Boric and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed 13 bilateral agreements to deepen cooperation in defense, trade, regional security, education, science and technology.

Both leaders described the meeting as a “milestone in the bilateral relationship” and a clear signal that South America seeks to strengthen its own development strategies amid an international landscape increasingly polarized between the United States and China.

“This agreement represents a strategic regional advance for Brazil’s defense industry. It opens opportunities for Chile to acquire Gripen NG fighter jets, KC-390 aircraft, armored vehicles, radar and electronic warfare systems, munitions, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and drones. Brazil is growing as many nations seek to diversify from their traditional suppliers,” said Humberto García.

Chile and Brazil are historic allies and partners in several fields. This alliance in particular, said Gabriel Gaspar, would allow South America to reduce its dependence on current arms suppliers and move forward with joint research and projects in technology, artificial intelligence, logistics and other areas. “It is a very promising step for both countries,” he said.

Argentine and Chilean fans hurled sticks, stones, and stun grenades during violent clashes at a Copa Sudamericana match in Buenos Aires that left 19 injured. Officials said at least 90 men and 5 women remain in custody. FIFA has condemned the “shocking” violence.

A Copa Sudamericana match in Buenos Aires was abandoned after violent clashes between fans, with some being stripped and beaten.

Ten people were seriously injured and more than 300 arrested at Wednesday’s last-16 second leg between Argentine hosts Independiente and Universidad de Chile, according to local media.

A stun grenade was among the objects thrown by spectators while one fan fell from the top tier of a stand at the Estadio Libertadores de America in the Avellaneda area of the Argentine capital.

Violence flared at half-time as objects including toilets, sinks, pieces of masonry and seats were thrown from the away section on to the section below them housing home supporters.

Home fans then appeared to enter the away section early in the second half, attacking visiting supporters and forcing them to flee.

“Nothing justifies a lynching. Nothing,” said Chile president Gabriel Boric on social media., external

“What happened in Avellaneda between the fans of Independiente and Universidad de Chile is wrong in too many ways, from the violence among the supporters to the evident irresponsibility in the organisation. Justice must determine those responsible.”

Jose Antonio Viera-Gallo, the Chilean Ambassador to Argentina, told Chilean radio station Cooperativa: “There are injuries on both sides, some with knives. There is at least one Chilean seriously injured, hospitalised, a person in his 30s.”

Universidad de Chile director Daniel Schapira told Chilean radio station ADN: “We’re always experiencing the same thing, it’s desperate. It’s a social, cultural issue; this is much more than football. They gave us 3,500 tickets and look what’s happening.

“Terrible, this is unbelievable. It’s also an organisational issue: they can’t put the U fans above the Independiente fans. Everyone has problems here; this has become a circus.”

Independiente president Nestor Grindetti told TyC Sports that the safety precautions taken “were logical” and that the number of tickets given to the visiting team was agreed with Conmebol, South American football’s governing body.

Grindetti added: “[It was] reprehensible behavior from the U supporters. They destroyed our bathrooms, took artefacts and threw them in the stands. Violence I’d never seen before.

“The Independiente fans didn’t deserve such a thing. It’s clear the problem started and continued with just one fanbase.”

The game was initially suspended, with players leaving the field in the second half with the game level at 1-1 and the Chilean side leading 2-1 on aggregate.

Conmebol said the match had been cancelled because of “the lack of security guarantees from the local club and local security authorities”.

It added that the case would be referred to its judicial bodies and that information regarding the events would be sent to its disciplinary committee.

Chile president Boric added: “Now our priority as a government is to know the condition of our compatriots who have been attacked, ensure their immediate medical attention, and guarantee that those who are detained have their rights respected.”

Independiente’s Chile midfielder Felipe Loyola said on social media:, external “This level of violence cannot be tolerated. I feel devastated.

“It’s a huge shame. I still can’t believe what I saw today. This isn’t football; sport isn’t violence.”

Possible ways to mitigate the risk include armouring the coastline and building breakwaters to relocating the monuments.

The Journal of Cultural Heritage has published a new study indicating that rising sea levels could push powerful seasonal waves into Easter Island’s 15 iconic moai statues, in the latest potential peril to cultural heritage from climate change.

“Sea level rise is real,” said Noah Paoa, lead author of the study published on Wednesday and a doctoral student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “It’s not a distant threat.”

About 50 other cultural sites in the area are also at risk from flooding.

Paoa, who is from Easter Island – a Chilean territory and volcanic island in Polynesia known to its Indigenous people as Rapa Nui – and his colleagues built a high-resolution “digital twin” of the island’s eastern coastline and ran computer models to simulate future wave impacts under various sea level rise scenarios. They then overlaid the results with maps of cultural sites to pinpoint which places could be inundated in the coming decades.

The findings show waves could reach Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial platform on the island, as early as 2080. The site, home to the 15 towering moai, draws tens of thousands of visitors each year and is a cornerstone of the island’s tourism economy.

Beyond its economic value, the ahu is deeply woven into Rapa Nui’s cultural identity. It lies within Rapa Nui National Park, which encompasses much of the island and is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The roughly 900 moai statues across the island were built by the Rapa Nui people between the 10th and 16th centuries to honour important ancestors and chiefs.

The threat isn’t unprecedented. In 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded – a magnitude 9.5 off the coast of Chile – sent a tsunami surging across the Pacific. It struck Rapa Nui and swept the already-toppled moai further inland, which damaged some of their features. The monument was restored in the 1990s.

While the study focuses on Rapa Nui, its conclusions echo a wider reality: Cultural heritage sites worldwide are increasingly endangered by rising seas. A UNESCO report published last month found that about 50 World Heritage sites are highly exposed to coastal flooding.

A UNESCO spokesperson told The Associated Press news agency that climate change is the biggest threat to UNESCO’s World Heritage marine sites. “In the Mediterranean and Africa, nearly three-quarters of coastal low-lying sites are now exposed to erosion and flooding due to accelerated sea level rise.”

Possible defences for Ahu Tongariki range from armouring the coastline and building breakwaters to relocating the monuments.

Paoa hopes that the findings will bring these conversations about now, rather than after irreversible damage. “It’s best to look ahead and be proactive instead of reactive to the potential threats.”