-- sloppily -- solidly behind manuel zelaya. host: can you give us a brief history? guest: central america has been a source -- a problem for the united states because we neglected for decades and then we intervened militarily as we did in the 1980's. we sponsored the war in el salvador, in nicaragua. these were useless exercise is because now both of the parties that we intervened against are in power -- the revolutionary party in el salvador and daniel ortega in nicaragua. i think that the history of u.s. intervention in central america has been a sorry one, and we recently at least been on the side of democracy. i wish that we would put less emphasis on military assistance and more emphasis on helping them with public administration and economic and social development. host: this came just a day after -- it took place yesterday with the president of colombia in the oval office. our relations with the president's colombia, uribe? guest: the bush administration overlooked a lot of offenses that the uribe government has committe

what i do know is that zelaya is the democratically elected president. >> what about the resignation letter written in his name? >> i have seen reports on that given the way that he was hustled out of the country, i do not know if i would give a lot of credence. can we move to another subject? >> we are confused. the secretary said it evolves into a coup. interesting phrase. there seems to be a lack of clarity. as the u.s. going to say this is permitted and this is not? it's almost like saying "a little bit pregnant." is it illegal? is it illegal according to the honduran constitution? >> i believe in it is, but i am not an international lawyer. i believe that it is illegal. i do not think that there was -- look. i will take this question, but i am not an international lawyer. this was not a democratic solution to some of the conflicts that we saw leading up to yesterday's events. i think that is our real issue with this. that is our issue with all of the oas. >> is it fair to say this is a practical matter, a coup, but we are not yet making that formal legal determination which will

and we must negotiate the return of zelaya. that is the crucial point. he is the elected president of honduras, and he must be restored. it is going to be difficult because you have to make -- the head of the congress there has made a terrible error of having himself sworn in as president. so, it is going to be difficult for him to back down and difficult for the supreme court to back down. but this must be accomplished. i think the only way it can be accomplished is for presidents zelaya to give up any ambitions of the constitutional amendments to allow him to run for a second term. that has got to be the deal. host: let me ask you in the "show me the money" department. president obama vowed to give hundreds by next year close to $7 million in aid and also honduras is a recipient of a millennium grant in excess of $200 million. will that money stopped if this continues? guest: yes, yes. there will be no money from the united states -- host: it is that a bargaining tool? guest: certainly is. a very good point. this coup government will leave. there is no

has president obama spoken with zelaya since the coup? >> not that i know of. >> what can they do to try to bring him back to power? >> i think you will know that working with the oas and others in the international community over the past few days, -- we were working to refer the kind of constitutional access -- constitutional actions. our goal is to restore democratic order in honduras. again, working with partners of the international community. we are focused on restoring the democratic order. >> what does that mean when you say working with the oas and the international community? calls from the present -- from the president himself? >> i do not know that he has called anyone. this will be discussed in the meeting with the colombian president today. i just do not want to get into diplomacy out loud right this second. that is more the what f. >> on the honduras issue, trying to clear the picture on what the u.s. is considering, they're withdrawing the ambassador asked the leftist american government -- or even looking at a possible cu

zelaya as the president. the urges return and the restoration of democratic order. also this morning in "the washington times" the have an exclusive interview with ban ki moon. the un secretary general said on sunday he is making a personal effort to try to free the u.s. journalist imprisoned in north korea. illinois is next. your thoughts on the optimism of the white house on the economy? caller: you have afghanistan, iraq, we have health care issues. we have so much on the plate of the obama administration. one of my fears from the campaign is that people would want a quick fix. things were so dire for the last eight years. people's expectations were enormously high in the one a quick fix. we in america have gotten used to having things fixed in a hurry. information at our hands so quickly, so we want quick answers, and unfortunately the economic problems are so deep. host: you are breaking up a little so i will move on to the independent line in ohio. caller: yes, and not very optimistic about the economy. with this stimulus package that the democrats pretty much