Zelaya Travels to U.S. to Meet with Bush, address U.N.

TEGUCIGALPA – Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Sunday traveled to New York to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush and address the U.N. General Assembly, according to a White House spokesman.

Zelaya traveled with his wife, Xiomara de Zelaya, Foreign Minister Milton Jiménez, private secretary Raul Valladares and political advisor Enrique Flores, among other officials.

He met with Bush Monday, according to the White House Web site, and was scheduled to address the United Nations on Tuesday.

The Honduran leader told journalists he and Bush planned to discuss matters of mutual interest, such as security, drug trafficking and immigration.

Bush was also scheduled to meet with Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca and Guatemalan President Oscar Berger.

The United States maintains a base of approximately 400 soldiers in the Honduran town of Palmerola, about 75 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa.

The $30 million base was constructed by the United States at the beginning of the 1980s and is considered by the U.S. government to be one of its most strategically located facilities in Central America.