[Editor’s note: The State Department FOIA release of 1981 withheld one clause from this cable under the national security exemption. It is denoted below in red type.
[The text for this document was released in 2014 by the now-defunct Wikileaks website at https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1979GEORGE01696_e.html. This URL may be available through the Wayback Machine.]
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GEORGE 01696 121405Z
ACTION L-03
INFO OCT-01 ARA-15 ADS-00 OCS-06 JUSE-00 H-02 INR-10 CA-01 /038 W
——————045854 121537Z /43
R 121101Z APR 79
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9440
UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 1696
PASS L/ARA FOR PORTUNE
PASS DEPT JUSTINCE FOR JIM HERGEN
E.O. 12065: NA
TAGS: CDES (PEOPLES TEMPLE), GY
SUBJ: US TENTATIVE DECISION NOT TO INSTITUTE LITIGATION AGAINST PEOPLE’S TEMPLE IN GUYANA
REF: JUSTINCE/HERGEN APRIL 7 LETTER TO GEORGETOWN/DWYER
1. PER REFERENCE, CHARGE CONVEYED TO GUYANESE COLICITOR GENERAL SABOLA ON APRIL 11 DECISION DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE THAT US NOT INSTITUTE LITIGATION IN GUYANA BASED ON RECEIVER’S ASSURANCES THAT HE WILL TAKE ALL POSSIBLE ACTION THROUGH LOCAL ATTORNEY. SABOLA, WHO SEEMED PLEASED WITH TENTATIVE DECISION, ASKED THAT IT BE CONVEYED TO HIM IN WRITING.
2. ACTION REQUESTED: REQUEST APPROVAL FOR FOLLOWING SUBSTUIAIVE LANGUAGE TO BE USED IN LETTER FROM CHARGE TO SOLICITOR GENERAL: BEGIN TEXT: THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAS TENTATIVELY DETERMINED NOT TO INITIATE LITIGATION IN GUYANA AGAINST THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE IN THE NAME OF THE UNITED STATES AT THIS TIME. THIS DECISION WAS BASED UPON THE CALIFORNIA PEOPLE’S TEMPLE RECEIVER’S ASSURANCES THAT HE, THROUGH COUNSEL REMAINED IN GUYANA. WILL ACT
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VIGOROUSLY IN GUYANA TO ASSERT ALL AVAILABLE DEFENSES; PROTECT AVAILABLE TEMPLE ASSETS; AND TEST THE ACCURACY OF ALL DAMAGE CLAIMS. IN CONSEQUENCE, THE UNITED STATES DOES NOT NOW INTEND EITHER TO OPPOSE OR TO OTHERWISE INTERFERE WITH THE RECEIVER’S-LITIGATION EFFORTS IN GUYANA. END TEXT.
DWYER [Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Dwyer]
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