GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP) — Guyana has nominated its ambassador to the United Nations (UN) to run for secretary-general of the global body, the president of the South American nation announced late Friday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of Portugal will step down at the end of the year from the post he has held since 2017, after two terms.

Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett has been Guyana’s representative to the UN since 2020. The Atlantic coastal nation tucked between Venezuela and Brazil has a population of fewer than one million people.