Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno told the press Friday about the fruits of his recent trip around Africa to seek support for Costa Rica in its vie for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council and build diplomatic relations in the region.

Stagno established diplomatic relations with Botswana, the Congo and Uganda and also visited Burundi, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa.

This visit was the first “high level” contact Costa Rica has made with many of these counties in years. It also gave the minister a chance to tout some of President Oscar Arias' pet programs such as the Costa Rica Consensus, a plan to reward developing countries that spend on social works rather than weapons, and “Peace with Nature,” which promotes international cooperation on environmental matters such as global warming and protection of biodiversity.

Stagno called the trip successful but said Costa Rica “still has a significant deficit, a significant debt to recuperate,” with Africa since “for a long time we've been settled into a basically trans-Atlantic and Americanized diplomacy.”

“It's time to break these mental borders and open ourselves to the world,” he said.

Costa Rica is vying with the Dominican Republic for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2009. The United Nations will vote on the matter Oct. 16.

Leading up to the vote, Stagno plans to “intensify his efforts with foreign ministers and U.N. representatives,” especially during his visit to the Assembly General next week for a session on climate change.

“Our advantage is that we are a country that has clear and transparent positions that the whole world is familiar with. That's not necessarily something other countries can say,” Stagno said.