Ecuador's Espinosa joins battle to lead United Nations

FILE PHOTO: United Nations General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

GENEVA, ⁠May 12 (Reuters) - ⁠Antigua and Barbuda ‌has nominated Ecuador's Maria Fernanda ​Espinosa as ⁠candidate to ⁠be the next ⁠United ‌Nations ⁠Secretary-General, a U.N. official ​told ‌Reuters on Tuesday.

Espinosa, ⁠a ​former diplomat and ⁠defence minister in ​Ecuador, held the role of ⁠President of the United Nations ​General ⁠Assembly from 2018-2019.

(Reporting ​by ‌Emma Farge, ​editing by Kirsti Knolle)