Costa Rica Reports On
First Semester in U.N.
Security Council
(Infocom) — Costa Rica
provided a report about
the work it has
conducted in the United
Nations Security Council
during the first
semester since it was
elected to that world
body.
At an information
session attended by
accredited diplomats in
the country, Chancellor
Bruno Stagno spoke about
some of the topics Costa
Rica will support as it
takes the council’s
presidency, starting
next November.
This is the second
report that Stagno,
along with Vice
Chancellor Edgar Ugalde
and the director of
foreign policy, provide
to the country’s
diplomatic
representatives. The
first report was given
last February.
Costa Rica has been a
non-permanent member of
the U.N. Security
Council since Jan. 1 of
this year.
Chancellor Stagno talked
about some of the
initiatives headed by
the Council, in
particular the
presidential resolution
on Sudan related to the
Darfur crisis, which
Costa Rica promoted. He
said such resolution
represented “the
breaking of silence” by
the Security Council in
relation to the crimes
against humanity
perpetrated in that
African nation.
Stagno also provided
details about other
topics, such as Iraq,
the situations in
Zimbabwe and Kosovo, the
Food for Oil Program,
terrorism, and the
threat of nuclear arms
proliferation and the
fear that these
materials may be
acquired by “irregular
groups.”
Regarding the United
Nations’ controversial
Oil for Food Program,
Stagno said Costa Rica
will insist that before
the program is
dismantled, a clear
accounting of the more
than us$600 million
involved must be given
and efforts must be made
to respond to claims of
irregularities that list
numerous companies that
allegedly abused the
humanitarian nature of
such program.
Such claims are
contained in the
so-called Volcker
Report, whose findings
Costa Rica seeks to
broadly divulge, Stagno
said.
Stagno told diplomats
that as Costa Rica
prepares to become
President of the U.N.
Security Council in
November, the country
will take advantage of
such opportunity to have
open conversations about
the need for peace and
justice and reforms
proposed for the
Security Council.
“We have lived through
very painful
experiences, such as
Srebrenica, Yugoslavia
and Rwanda, which tell
us that sometimes the
imperative of peace has
resulted in the
sacrifice of justice; or
other experiences where,
because justice was
sought too quickly,
peace was compromised.”
Stagno explained.
Stagno said this will be
the “first open debate
about peace and justice”
that the United Nations
will conduct, and Costa
Rica hopes such debate
will not be limited to
the Security Council’s
15 members, but to all
U.N. members. He added
that another goal will
be to discuss some
issues that both the
Council and the
International Criminal
Court.
Regarding reforms to the
Security Council, Stagno
said the country hopes
to promote 19
recommendations that
Costa Rica has proposed
since 2005 along with
Jordan, Liechtenstein,
Singapore and
Switzerland, which make
up the so-called Small 5
(S5) group of nations.
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