Bachelet withdraws from UN secretary general race after support collapses

Michelle Bachelet, twice president of Chile and former UN human rights chief, has withdrawn from the race to lead the United Nations after security council support for her candidacy collapsed in informal polling. Her campaign, built on defending multilateralism and international law at a moment of deep institutional strain, could not survive the quiet arithmetic of great-power preference. The episode is a reminder that the path to the world's most symbolic diplomatic office runs not through public argument or moral credential, but through the closed chambers where veto-holders calculate their