Q263 Summary

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.

To read the Tape Transcript, click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1Pt. 2).
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FBI Catalogue           Jones speaking

FBI preliminary tape identification note: Labeled in part “9/16/78” 

Date cues on tape:     News items from mid-July (references to Carter visit to Germany, July 14-15, and effects of Guyana passage of referendum, July 10) 

People named:

Public figures/National and international names:
Jimmy Carter, U.S. President
Adolf Hitler, German Führer
Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator of Italy
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during World War II
Vladimir Lenin, father of Russian Revolution
Josef Stalin, former Soviet dictator
Nikita Khrushchev, premier of the Soviet Union
Elias Sarkis, President of Lebanon
Agostinho Neto, President of Angola
Kenneth David Kaunda, President of Zambia [by reference]

Forbes Burnham, Prime Minister of Guyana
Cheddi Jagan, head of opposition to Burnham

Ivan III (Ivan the Terrible), Russian czar
Vasily III, son of Ivan III [by reference]
Sophia Palaiologina, wife of Ivan III
Nicholas I, Russian czar
Peter the Great, Russian czar

Andrei Sinyavski, Soviet dissident
Yuli Daniel, Soviet dissident
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Soviet dissident

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted American spies [by reference]
Muhammed Ali, boxer
David Rockefeller, philanthropist
John D. Rockefeller III, philanthropist [by reference]

Bible verses cited:      None

Summary:

Although this is a news tape – as Jim Jones reads the news for September 16, 1978 – more than three-fourths of it is a continuation of the reading of the geographies, histories and economic systems of the nations of the world. This day’s entries are Somalia and the Soviet Union, that latter of which, as Jones says as a prefatory remark, “for whatever reasons, are on the right side of liberation causes.”

There are only a few other stories which Jones touches upon. There is a lengthy piece from Guyana Broadcasting about the ways in which the nation’s constitution – newly-approved in a referendum – will be implemented. The improvement include those in the nation’s health system, with an emphasis on bringing in more medical doctors.

The other major story is the news coming out of a conference of Africa’s foreign ministers. Zambia has called for a new Pan-African Unity peace-keeping force which will counter US imperialism and which would only go to war with the remaining white minority governments, specifically Union of South Africa and Rhodesia. There is also discussion of Somalia wanting Cubans expelled from Africa because of its aggression, but other nations accuse Somalia itself of being an aggressor. Somalia also wants Cuba to be barred from the upcoming gathering of non-aligned nations, due to its alliance with the Soviet Union.

FBI Summary:

Date of transcription: 6/11/79

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 May 30, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B93-9. This tape was found to contain the following:

Today’s news by Rev. JIM JONES to People’s Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana.

This tape was reviewed and nothing was contained thereon which was considered to be of evidentiary nature or beneficial to the investigation of the murder of Congressman RYAN.

Differences with FBI Summary:

The summary is accurate and meets the FBI’s purposes.