all agreed every step of the way and tel. . . >> i will be thinking of that every single day when i wake up. [laughter] >> what is your immediate -- >> we are probably not going, we

are going to arrange to do some parades and i will not be in washington for the next week. >> what will be the hardest part of the transition? >> the hardest part of this is that it is different getting a briefing and having been there for the month. this will be catching up, and i think that this is going to be the hardest part of the transition period but the hardest part of any transition is the things that you did not know would be the hardest part of this. does that make any sense, because i hope that this does. thank you, everyone. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009]

[applause] >> coming up, honduran president manuel zelaya who was removed in a military coup speaks at the u.n. the president of columbia talks about his relationship with the united states, and the chief of navy relations, adm. gary roughead. >> this holiday weekend on "book tv" discover runs amok -- an

unfamiliar side of the first president, when we are live from the mount vernon estate with john ferling. join our conversation on sunday. this begins on friday morning on "book tv." >> how is c-span funded? >> public funding? >> donations? >> the government? >> they get funding through the taxes? >> public funding? >> how is the c-span funded? this was treated as a public service by the cable companies, there is no government mandates and no government money. >> the president of honduras addressed the general assembly of the united nations after he was forcibly removed from office. this happened shortly after the passage of a resolution

condemning the military coup. this is about 50 minutes. >> on behalf of the general assembly, i welcome to the united nations, his excellency, manuel zelaya, president of the republic of honduras and i invite him to address the assembly. >> president of the general assembly, [unintelligible] ambassadors, representtives, of

countries to the united nations. distinguished special guests. canchellor of hon-- chancellor of honduras. ministers who have joined us here today. ministers from all other countries. the distinguished minister of venezuela. of ecuador. distinguished friends. madam vice-president of the general assembly, margaret kelly, director of the general assembly.

the resolution that the united nations has just adopted unanimously with a vote of all countries that are members of this assembly expresses the indignation of the people of honduras and of people worldwide who continue to struggle for the only principles that can prevail in accordance with united nations charter. internationals human rights agreements at the same time the fundamental values, namely the right to life, freedom, to justice, to individual dignity and collected dignity, as was the right of citizen

participation. where challenges and conditions become increasingly complex. we have more instruments to be able to respond to the problems that we face, thus finding solutions to which we are all committed. this resolution is historic. it is significant. it will empower every last citizen of this world to be able to continue these great conquest of humankind. there are some that stand in the way of these conquests that believes that the use of force and violence should continue,

and that they should prevail over the peace and coexistence upheld by the added nations. we have no doubt whatsoever that always opting for the common good, always pursuing our common desires. in order to be able to achieve the objectives of a better world that we're all committed to struggling for. in our own defense, a defense of future generations, the united nations like almost all american organizations started with the organization of america's states. the organization of the people of the caribbean. many of whom are great friends

of honduras. the organizations of the countries of all of southern america who have also expressed their voice unanimously condemning me barbarity -- condemning the barbarity that a small group of usurpers and flexible on the country. -- a small group of usurpers inflects -- inflecticts on the country. guatemala, el salvador, costa rica, dominican republic -- at a significant meeting held with

observer countries, they, too adopted this resolution condemning, rejecting, and calling for respect for the democratic decisions taken in honduras. day, to have come to the floor as has the organization of central american and caribbean countries. as has central america. this includes mexico, central america, the caribbean, and columbia. they, too have used the same terms their institutions have expressed their views. europe, led by the european

union and through the prime minister and foreign minister of spain and his majesty, date, to have outlined the same positions with regard to any movement of aggression attacking the democratic will of the people. today, following this decision which joins decisions taken by the people of the americas, we have not only ratified what we had agreed upon earlier, but we're also sending a signal for future generations and for humanity. all countries without exception

have expressed themselves loud and clear with regard to the act of atrocity that occurred on sunday the twenty eighth of june. from the united states, with resolutions, round and resolve language, all dignitaries have all spoken to your humble servant who have paid me the honor of speaking to me to express their outrage by the acts perpetrated by the usurpers. we have received calls from the president. from the president of chile, paraguay, uruguay, brazil, of

columbia. he was in washington the day after these events. the president of mexico chaired the meeting that took place in nicaragua. along with all countries that are members of the group, this meeting that was convened as an extraordinary meeting with a view to expressing its views in regard to the average is events that took place on the twenty eighth of june. all central american presidents. the president of guatemala, the

president of coast rica who extended his hospitality to me, a day when i was nearly thrown out of an airplane at the airport of san jose at 630 in the morning, the day that the coup d'etat occurred in honduras. the host of the meeting of the central america indicate -- integration system in panama also attended all of these events. the president of ecuador travel for the single aim to stand for the democracies of the world. fighting for democracy isn't in the interest of one single

country. it is when you couple@@@@@ rrm!, you are defending humankind. hugo chavez of venezuela who paid very close attention when this began to take shape, as there were early signs -- early signs that there was something happening and this was taking shape, this resulted in a brutal coup detat. the president of bolivia who spoke on behalf of the people of the world, also indicating his protest. and the terrible discovered to

-- the terrible discomfort. we have all been affected at one time or another. but often, the threats are nothing more than that, simply threats. when these threats are issued behind rivals or bayonets, then here in the twenty first century, it means we have not progressed enough. in order to resolve problems that can be resolved peacefully using legal terms, and where the necessary instruments exist at the international and national levels. in all of our countries, we have laws and constitutions to be able to enter into dialogue and

resolve any disputes which may concern an activity or event which has taken place in our countries. to all the president's, and i will not name them all because they are english names, and i have a hard time pronouncing them. i would like to single out president castro who traveled from havana and was here with us to voice his repudiation of these gross acts perpetrated by

a military group, doing nothing more than establishing a lease that stand in the way of change and the transformation, as has always been a way of the world. there has always been a conservative group that wish to maintain the status quo and maintain things the way they are. and they wish to keep the establishment. it is always difficult to bring about change. nothing comes free of charge. it has never been easy for the people of the world to find space for themselves, to gain rights and to develop instruments to uphold these rights. the guaranteed democracy worldwide. i wish to acknowledge it.

and of charges have been leveled against your humble servant in honduras, but i have not been put on trial. i have not been called to the stand to defend myself. nobody has indicated what my error is. no accusations have been brought to my attention. i assume the presidency in january 2006 after elections were held in 2005. i had a margin of 3%-5% over the rival candidate and we broached

a new era and the country immediately, applying democratic peaceful standards with one single symbol. citizen participation. consider this, this is an assembly. a nation is an assembly. participation takes place in an assembly. it does not mean an isolated group, and isolated a lead to group or a group of politicians with specific interests that only a couple of those specific interests. it is the participation of the citizenship which empowers democracy and gives us is true significance. in the twenty first century, we wish to provide this for democracy i never thought i

would have to hark back to the dark days to uphold democracy. we have often been brought to task for the deficiencies of our national systems, economic systems, legal systems, in terms of our democracy iies. more needs to be done to improve our democratic systems, to strengthen our institutions. when i addressed the assembly, i pointed out the balances -- the trade imbalances in the regions of the world. we have sought to improve trading conditions so that these asymmetries can be rectified.

in view of the major powers of the world, i never thought that i would be accused of committing a crime. i never thought that my words would be turned against me, and that an elite in honduras would attack me, believing i was seeking to bring down the system of privileges that they upheld. i was always making use of a human right, the freedom of thought and expression. if freedom of conscience. by increasing the minimum wage paid to workers, to adjust it to the cost of life in honduras, i never thought that that' would e seen as an attempt to put a brake on economic development of the country. i asked the minister of labour to identify the exact cost of

living in honduras, and i thought it was something around 30 u.s. dollars. this is food only. it does not cover transportation, rent, public services, but only food. the cost of living to support an individual is that small amount. then no contracts should be awarded when an individual earns less than that amount. immediately, i received 180 replies from the most conservative circles in the country. because i was seeking to put food in the mouths of the workers. it is the very least i can do.

i have struggled for the rights of the media. there is freedom of press in honduras. however, this has now been entirely refuted. i have not been permitted to reply to the press in of honduras. there has been manipulation, permanent manipulation of information. but i have always upheld that right of the press even though they have manipulated information in the past. and it has had such an impact on people's thinking, the

fundamental basis of the individual. that is how we distinguish ourselves as human beings, the capacity for thought. as has been set, i may not agree with what you say, but as you have the right, i can support your right to say it. it is an imperfect system, as we know. for about three years, brutal attacks have also been launched to obtain information concerning developing -- developments within the country. and i note with satisfaction that when i arrived here, when

i first entered office, six out of every 10 hondurans live in poverty. in the first years, we were able to reduce the level by 10% through the administration of social programs, increasing economic output, developing a private sector in addition to launching a stream of social programs. i never thought that this would constitute a crime. that is where the problems began. there were individuals who thrive on the existence of poverty. the use this as their discourse. i referred to the subject of the minimum wage earlier. we established programs that were directly geared to reaching the needs of poor people.

if people are dying of hunger, 2 million people are only able the eat every two or three days little on attend the schools. i had been accused of being a populist. i had been accused of being a communist and running the country. there is much injustice in honduras. in justice arises from inequality, from laws that create inequality between human beings. we are unequal as individuals, as nations. some are large, summer squall. some have everything, some have

nothing. when it comes to distribution, that is the way that it is. understand that countries seek to reduce these inequalities, not to perpetrate them -- to perpetuate them. by law, we're all to be respected. we sought to repeal laws that were aimed at creating and perpetuating a system of poverty or inequality. there is a law that has been held back for eight months. that is why we had difficulties with congress, because there is 1.5 million people who work in the domestic sector. their sponsors were obliged to register with social security to ensure that they had health insurance.

it took congress eight months to work on this bill. and to ensure that they receive social security. for all these reasons, that is why we're in the situation we're in today. i did not want to turn this into a long story, but i simply believe that the people of honduras have the right to participate in democracy, not only to elect individuals -- there are people that have been elected and have betrayed the very same people. individuals were members of an elite small group. people have the right to continue to express their views on economy, social progress, and development. and to our surprise,