Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.
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FBI Catalogue Jones Speaking
FBI preliminary tape identification note: Labeled in part “Tues July 18”
Date cues on tape: Contents consistent with tape identification note
People named:
Jimmy Carter, President of US
Cyrus Vance, U.S. Secretary of State (by reference)
Andrew Young, U.S. Ambassador to United Nations (by reference)
Winston Churchill, British prime minister
Margaret Thatcher, Britain Conservative Party leader
Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain
Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish prime minister
Carlos Arias Navarro, Spanish politician
Yuri Orlov, Soviet dissident
Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian president
Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Foreign Minister of Egypt (by reference)
Moise Dayan, Israeli Foreign Minister (by reference)
Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia (by reference)
Robert Mugabe, leader of Zimbabwean Patriotic Front in Rhodesia
Joshua Nkomo, leader of Zimbabwean Patriotic Front in Rhodesia
Bishop Abel Muzorewa, leader of Zimbabwe independence
Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia
Vibert Mingo, Guyana Minister of Home Affairs
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, writer, wife of Scott
Sarah Mayfield, writer
Sheila Graham, gossip columnist
Muhammad Ali, prize fighter
Rockefeller family, American family of great wealth
Harold Piper, Baltimore Sun correspondent in USSR (by reference)
Craig R. Whitney, New York Times correspondent in USSR (by reference)
Gaafar al-Nimeiry, Sudanese president
Charles George “Chinese” Gordon, British general
Horatio Kitchener, British general
King Ferdinand II of Aragon
Queen Isabella I of Aragon
King Leon of Castile
Count Henry of Burgundy
Marceline Jones (by reference)
Cleave Swinney
Bible verses cited: None
Summary:
(This tape was transcribed by Heather Shannon. The editors gratefully acknowledge her invaluable assistance.)
Jim Jones reads the news for July 18, 1978. As are most of these newscasts, he tends to emphasize the items which disparage or belittle the United States and its allies, and which deride capitalism in comparison to “the beauty, or sensitivity, cooperativeness, and humane-ness of socialism.”
The news itself gives them a socialist perspective, although he interjects several editorial comments of his own along the way. The U.S. is an imperialist power, the fascist countries of World War II – notably Spain and Germany – remain so, the white minority government of Rhodesia is racist, and the nationalism of Israel has led that country to “cleverly getting the nuclear bomb which endangers the peace of all of her allies and enemies.” Terrorists, he notes, are what capitalists call freedom fighters and liberators.
He begins the talk by appealing to the residents of Jonestown to treat both himself and Marceline – “your mother” – with the same respect and love as they have for their followers, and more for Marceline’s sake than for his own. At the same time, he asks that they “don’t handle me and your mother as if we were immortal.”
He not only requests the community members to increase their production – an increasingly typical demand – but also asks that they take an interest in learning new skills that will go towards sustaining their lives in Jonestown and make it a success.
In addition to reading the news, Jones gives them two geography lessons – part of a continuing project he’s undertaken during the summer – on Sudan and Spain. He also makes the comparisons to Guyana when he can, invariably favorable, to show how life is better where they are. Sudan, for example, “is 12 times the size of Guyana, but its population is 20 times, so you still have a better ratio in Guyana to live, and to eat and have a future than in any place in the world.”
Among the other items:
• The United States will reduce oil imports, which will result in people freezing to death;
• Western nations will halt commercial flights to those nations which house terrorists;
• Egypt and the US agree that the PLO should be represented in settlement talks for the Mideast;
• Ministers of African nations plan to discuss a pan-African peacekeeping force;
• The US and the USSR hold talks over the fate of dissidents in the Soviet Union;
• Two American journalists are jailed in the Soviet Union for reporting on dissidents;
• The Italian Red Brigade captures eight policemen and holds them for ransom;
• A large prison escape in Portugal has been engineered by the country’s Red Guard;
• China tries to rescue its citizens fleeing from Vietnam;
• Britain will outlaw labor strikes and stop the immigration of minorities;
• The interim Rhodesian government protests trade sanctions against it.
FBI Summary:
Date of transcription: 6/26/79
In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.
On June 6, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B100-43. This tape was found to contain the following:
Reverend JIM JONES giving the news and commentary and announces upcoming test and calling a People’s Rally for that night. JONES exhorts the people at Jonestown to work harder.
Differences with FBI Summary:
The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.
Tape originally posted June 2021.