The contest to select the next United Nations Secretary-General remains wide open, but one candidate gaining traction should worry Washington. Recent straw polls among Security Council members show Rebeca Grynspan, a former Costa Rican vice president now leading the UN trade body, with a narrow edge. Close behind is Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana's UN ambassador, who topped an earlier round. To win, a candidate needs support from nine of the 15 council members and no veto from the five permanent members: the US, China, Britain, France, and Russia.
Rodrigues-Birkett's record raises red flags. Although Guyana is a US ally, her positions align more with Beijing, Havana, and Hamas than with Washington and its partners. China, America's chief rival, appears likely to back her. At a time when the US is trying to maintain leadership in artificial intelligence, Rodrigues-Birkett has endorsed China's new World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, whose founding members include Russia, Cuba, and Nicaragua—all authoritarian adversaries of the US. A Secretary-General in Beijing's pocket on AI and other matters would undermine American interests.
Her affinity for China was clear during her July visit to Beijing. While four other hopefuls also traveled there, she was the only one to explicitly support the 1971 UN resolution recognizing the People's Republic as the sole legitimate representative of China. Beijing uses that resolution to exclude democratic Taiwan from international bodies, a stance Washington rejects. China's official readout noted she "spoke highly" of Xi Jinping's four global initiatives on development, security, civilization, and governance—pillars of Beijing's effort to reshape international rules.
Rodrigues-Birkett's sympathies extend to Cuba. In a 2013 speech, she praised Fidel Castro as a "visionary, determined revolutionary." That same year, as Guyana's foreign minister, she sponsored a motion condemning the US blockade of Cuba and claimed Cuba "has been kind to everyone," despite the regime's imprisonment of dissidents and their families.
Her stance on Gaza is equally troubling. After Hamas's October 7, 2023 massacre, she acknowledged the hostages but blamed Israel for the conflict, accusing it of "veritable genocide." She has also pushed to keep the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) involved in postwar Gaza. The US has called for UNRWA's abolition after as many as 100 employees allegedly took part in the Hamas attacks, and the USAID inspector general is investigating links to terrorism by up to 1,500 current and former staff.
The US needs a Secretary-General who supports President Trump's plan to stabilize Gaza by disarming Hamas, not one who amplifies its propaganda and defends an agency that has aided terrorists. As a permanent member, the US can veto Rodrigues-Birkett's nomination and should do so, even if it sparks protests in Guyana.
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